WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Thursday urged the Group of Seven advanced economies to release any excess COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries as soon as possible, and called on manufacturers to ramp up production.
In a joint statement to the G7, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass, also called on governments, pharmaceutical companies and groups involved in vaccines procurement to boost transparency about contracting, financing and deliveries.
“Distributing vaccines more widely is both an urgent economic necessity, and a moral imperative,” they said. “The coronavirus pandemic will not end until everyone has access to vaccines, including people in developing countries.”
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
