{"id":42273,"date":"2020-11-23T07:52:55","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T07:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/president-kagame-stresses-need-for-equal-distribution-of-covid-19-vaccine\/"},"modified":"2020-11-27T06:23:03","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T06:23:03","slug":"president-kagame-stresses-need-for-equal-distribution-of-covid-19-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/president-kagame-stresses-need-for-equal-distribution-of-covid-19-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"President Kagame stresses need for equal distribution of COVID-19 vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Head of State made the call on Saturday while participating in a special G20 Summit side event on Pandemic Preparedness and Response which brought together global leaders to discuss strategies to overcome the New Coronavirus pandemic. <\/p>\n

President Kagame spoke on behalf of The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), of which he is chair, in the dialogue on overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic and restoring economic growth, at the G20 Summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis session deals with the most urgent tasks facing the international community at this moment. We must end the pandemic through the rapid and equitable distribution of vaccines in every country in the world. And we must chart a pathway back to global growth,\u201d President Kagame said.<\/p>\n

President Kagame commended the G20 for mobilizing resources for the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator, in particular the COVAX facility, adding that the recent announcements of effective vaccine has created hope worldwide. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe apparent effectiveness of several vaccine candidates has generated enormous optimism for a return to normality in 2021. Fully funding COVAX is essential for ensuring that the vaccine is available everywhere. And we cannot forget that strong national health systems are necessary for effective vaccine distribution,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

President Kagame explained that containing the pandemic permits a return to growth, but does not guarantee it, making a case for African countries which are likely to struggle to navigate their way out of the COVID-19 impact, calling for debt suspension measures and additional financing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability of countries to finance economic recovery is highly variable. Africa, notably, does not have access to the monetary policy tools in more developed economies,\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cFor that reason, the G20\u2019s continued commitment to the Debt Service Suspension Initiative is of central importance. But this crucial program will not be sufficient. Additional stimulus will be required in developing countries, just as it is in advanced economies,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

President Kagame added that countries must continue to work together to ensure that no one is left behind, as the world recovers from the crisis. <\/p>\n

Reinforcing President Kagame\u2019s point, the African Union (AU) chairman, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the African continent is playing its part, including through the establishment of a COVID-19 Response Fund, to mobilise resources for a continental response and to support recovery. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe also launched the African Medical Supplies Platform to ensure equitable access to medical equipment and supplies,\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been involved in the formation of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a global network to ensure access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for all those who need it,\u201d President Ramaphosa said, emphasizing that the G20 should ensure that access to an effective COVID-19 vaccine should be universal, fair and equitable, as the consensus was at the summit. <\/p>\n

\u201cA commitment by G20 leaders to invest substantially in the ACT-Accelerator\u2019s immediate funding gap of $4.5 billion will immediately save lives, lay the groundwork for mass provision of COVID-19 tools around the world, and provide a way out of this global economic and human crisis. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe look to the G20, international partners and the international financial institutions to work with African countries to rebuild their economies. The African Union has proposed several measures, including debt relief in the form of interest-payment waivers and deferred payments,\u201d Ramaphosa, emphasized Africa\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

At the opening of the G20 summit on Saturday, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia said that despite the growing confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine, improvements should be made to make it more accessible to all, and countries to better prepare for further outbreaks in future times.<\/p>\n

In June 2020, G20 member states pledged to raise $ 21 billion to help with COVID-19, which was used mainly through equipment to fight the epidemic, vaccination and more.<\/p>\n

King Salman also said that the G20 countries have already donated about $ 1,100 billion ($ 11 trillion), in a bid to meet the economic need to find ways to overcome the effects of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

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President Paul Kagame has stressed the need for a speedy and equal distribution of COVID-19 vaccine, which is essential in stopping the spreading of the pandemic in all countries, and for cooperation to ensure that no one is left behind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72],"byline":[2942],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-42273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","byline-nicole-kamanzi-m"],"bylines":[{"id":2942,"name":"Nicole Kamanzi M.","slug":"nicole-kamanzi-m","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2942,"name":"Nicole Kamanzi M.","slug":"nicole-kamanzi-m","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42273"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=42273"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=42273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}