COVID 19: Global vaccine mission secures $7.4 billion; India joins UK's mission

To fight the pandemic, almost every country in the world is trying their best to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

To help in this matter, the United Kingdom on Thursday organised a Global Vaccine Summit 2020. The virtual summit virtual saw attendance of representatives of more than 50 countries, including various business leaders, UN agencies, civil society, government ministers, Heads of State and country leaders. 

The summit helped secure USD 7.4 billion in funding to support global vaccine supply and immunisation.

Also watch: India pledges $15 Million to 'Global Alliance For Vaccine And Immunisation'

The summit was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on behalf of India.

All the attendees pledge their support to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in its commitment to help save up to 8 million lives over the next five years, as per an official release.

The initiative by Gavi will help further the research to help stop the spread of infectious diseases and the resurgence of other epidemics. If a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine is developed, it will also have a role in its delivery around the world. Global access will ensure collective international recovery, the release added. 

Addressing the attendees, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "I hope this summit will be the moment when the world comes together to unite humanity in the fight against the disease. I urge you to join us to fortify this lifesaving alliance and inaugurate a new era of global health co-operation, which I believe is now the most essential shared endeavour of our lifetimes."

Also watch: UK PM urges global effort at COVID-19 vaccine summit

Thanking PM Modi, Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India, said, "I was pleased to see such a strong endorsement from Prime Minister Modi at today's summit and to hear his message about the importance of global solidarity. As he said, India's capacity to produce vaccines at low cost and research expertise will play a very important role. The UK is Gavi's leading donor and already playing a major role in the international response to Coronavirus. I'm delighted to see the continuing and excellent UK-India collaboration as a force for good against Covid-19 - from vaccine development to keeping essential medical supply routes open."

Through a video message, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called coronavirus "the greatest public health crisis of our generation", and urged all countries and world leaders to come forwards in solidarity to fight against this pandemic that has already claimed more than 383,000 deaths worldwide.