In a bid to help stop the virus from mutating and returning as a worldwide threat, one hundred former presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers have urged the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to pay for global COVID-19 vaccinations.
In their letter to the G7, the former world leaders said global cooperation had failed in 2020, but that 2021 could usher in a new era.
“Support from the G7 and G20 that makes vaccines readily accessible to low- and middle-income countries is not an act of charity, but rather is in every country’s strategic interest,” the letter said.
Ex-British premiers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, and 15 former African leaders were among the signatories.
The leaders made their appeal ahead of a G7 summit in England which begins on Friday, when U.S. President Joe Biden will meet the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan.