Billions pledged for COVID-19 vaccine research

By Syed Sajid Aziz in USA
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

International leaders, organizations and banks have pledged 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) for research to find a vaccine against the new coronavirus (COVID-19) but warned that it’s just the beginning of an effort that needs to be sustained with full intensity to overcome the deadly disease.

The funds were pledged at a video-conference summit hosted by the European Union although it fell marginally short of the target of 7.5 billion euros but more money could arrive in coming days. 

"In the space of just a few hours we have collectively pledged 7.4 billion euros for vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. All this money will help kick-start unprecedented global cooperation,'' the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, observed in her concluding remarks on the occasion. 

The original objective was to collect around 4 billion euros ($4.37 billion) for vaccine research, some 2 billion euros for treatments and 1.5 billion ($1.64 billion) for testing. 

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, stated that the initial target pursued to help find a vaccine, new treatments and better tests for the disease would only amount to a down payment on the tools that will be needed to fight the virus as they needed around five times more to reach everyone and everywhere.