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IMF, WB, WHO, WTO to deliver more jabs

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) Group, World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Wednesday agreed to deliver more vaccine doses to low-income countries.

In the High-Level Consultations with CEOs of leading COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing companies, the multilateral global organisations decided to facilitate vaccine supply to the low-income countries, where less than 2.5 per cent of the population is inoculated, the IMF said in a statement on Wednesday.

The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 per cent of people in every country by the end of 2021, and at least 60 per cent by mid-2022.

During the consultations, the heads of the four organisations and the CEOs also examined how to tackle trade-related bottlenecks, how to improve donation process, and what additional steps are needed to reach the vaccination target of 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of the year.

The outlook for 2022 was also discussed, focusing on diversification of manufacturing across regions, as well as strengthening collaboration to achieve the global target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the populations of all countries by the middle of the year.

The heads of the global organisations encouraged all G20 governments to join the effort to meet the vaccination target of 40 per cent by end-2021 by allowing manufacturers to prioritise COVAX and African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) contracts, streamlining donations to COVAX and pledging more doses, exploring possibilities for effective vaccine swaps with COVAX and AVAT, and eliminating export restrictions to vaccines and their inputs.

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