Joe Biden takes part in his first G7 against a background of vaccine strategy

Joe Biden is participating this Friday February 19 in his first G7 summit, focused on the international response to the coronavirus pandemic and especially the sharing of vaccines. The meeting is scheduled for the afternoon between the leaders of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, and in the presence of the heads of the Union European. A meeting led by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. London has taken over the group’s rotating presidency and plans to host a summit of its leaders in a Cornish seaside resort in June.

This exchange is the first since April 2020, the health situation having led to the cancellation of the summit that Donald Trump was to host. Meanwhile, the arrival at the White House of his Democratic successor has ended four years of forced unilateralism, with Washington signaling his return to multilateral organizations, such as the Paris climate agreement and the World Organization. of health (WHO).

Biden cares for transatlantic relations

Over the course of his first phone calls and speeches, he outlined the main lines of the evolution of American diplomacy: harsher speech against Vladimir Putin’s Russia, taking a distance from Saudi Arabia, the desire to return to the country. Iran nuclear deal, and affection for battered allies.

Sign of a desire to repair transatlantic relations, Joe Biden is also due to speak Friday afternoon, with Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel, at the Munich Security Conference, a first for an American president at this annual event bringing together leaders state, diplomats and security specialists. During the call of the G7, the Democrat intends “to focus on the international response to the Covid pandemic, including the coordination of the production, distribution and delivery of vaccines,” said the White House in a statement.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for her part, would like to see “the G7 take more responsibility” regarding the response to the pandemic, according to her spokesperson. It must in particular be question of the UN Covax system, founded by several international organizations, including the WHO, and which Washington has promised to join. Joe Biden will also promise Friday, during this G7 meeting, four billion dollars for the Covax device, the White House said Thursday.

Macron wants to convince his international partners to help Africa with vaccines

If the great powers have started massive vaccination campaigns against Covid-19, with varying success, concern is mounting about disadvantaged countries. On the eve of the G7 meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron, deeming “unsustainable” that poor countries should be abandoned, pleaded in the Financial Times so that the rich countries send 3% to 5% of their available doses to Africa “very quickly, and people see them arriving on the ground”.

For his part, Boris Johnson, who can boast of the success of his vaccination campaign, has already promised to redistribute most of his surplus via Covax. Beyond the Covid-19 disease, the British leader intends to advocate for strengthened health cooperation, in order to reduce to 100 days the time necessary for the development of vaccines against new diseases.

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