Leaders of many countries and institutions committed billions to develop vaccines, treatments, and tests for Covid-19 at an online donor conference on Monday.
The donor marathon, an initiative of the EU, France, Germany, Norway, Japan and Saudi Arabia, among others, aims to ensure that an affordable vaccine will be available worldwide.
The virtual summit should initially generate 7.5 billion euros for the fight against the coronavirus. The European Commission is raising € 1 billion, said President Ursula von der Leyen, the conference host.
French President Macron pledged 500 million euros, German Chancellor Angela Merkel 525 million and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo over 760 million. The total amount will follow later today.
Not all commitments are about ‘new’ money: previous promises and expenditures from January 30 also count.
Global fundraising will continue shortly. The European Commission keeps track of what countries, companies and international, financial and civil society organizations want to contribute.