During a global telethon, the European Union collected 7.4 billion euros on Monday May 4 to manufacture a vaccine against Covid-19. While many states have contributed to this “first step”, US President Donald Trump has refused to involve the United States in it.
- The European Union organized a global telethon on May 4 to fund the search for a vaccine against Covid-19
- This operation raised 7.4 billion euros, including 500 million provided by France
“We did it. We got 7.4 billion euros”. The global telethon organized on Monday May 4 by the European Union to finance research and development of a vaccine against Covid-19 raised 7.4 billion euros. It was Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, who announced the good news after the three hours of online collection. A vaccine is “our collective best chance of beating the virus. We need to develop a vaccine, produce it and deploy it to every corner of the world. And we need to make it available at affordable prices”said the German official.
The European Commission was the first to kick off the marathon with a contribution of one billion euros. It was then followed by France and Germany, which respectively gave 500 and 525 million euros. China, the cradle of the epidemic, announced 45.6 million while South Africa promised 1.1 billion for the African continent. Mexico, representing Latin America, also made promises, but not quantified. Turkey, the Principality of Monaco and the European Investment Bank have also not indicated the exact amount of their contributions.
Public figures have also contributed greatly to this marathon, such as Madonna, who donated a million dollars to the collection, or Bill and Melinda Gates. The Gates Foundation has pledged 125 million euros. Thanks to all these donations, the European Commission believes it can reach its objective of 7.5 billion euros.
The United States prefers to go it alone
The only downside: the United States refused to participate in this telethon. Indeed, the American president, in open conflict with the World Health Organization, to which he blames his mismanagement of the crisis, prefers to go it alone in the creation of a vaccine. While more than a hundred research projects are currently underway around the world, including eight at the clinical trial stage in the United States, China and Europe, a rivalry in the vaccine race worries many political leaders.
“Every man for himself is a big mistake”, reacted Emmanuel Macron, insisting on the need to make this vaccine “an global public good “. “We must cooperate and not compete”for his part, King Abdallah II of Jordan protested.
The race “will be long”
In a column published in several European newspapers on the eve of the collection, several political leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, recalled the importance of forming a united front in the fight against Covid-19.
“We will put all our own commitments on the table and we are happy to be joined by partners from all over the world”in an attempt to “closing the estimated global financing gap”, they wrote. “If we manage to develop a vaccine produced by the whole world, for the whole world, then it will be a unique global public good of the 21st century.and century. With our partners, we are committed to making it available, accessible and affordable for everyone. This race will be long (…) The current target only covers initial needs: manufacturing and delivering medicines globally will require resources far beyond this target. Together, we must ensure that all resources will continue to be mobilized and that progress will be made towards achieving universal access to vaccination, treatment and testing.”
Thus, while raising funds from the Commission is an important first step, the fight is far from over. “It will take five times that amount.” to develop and distribute the vaccine globally, warned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
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