Donate jabs to Covax scheme

Countries belonging to the G7 and the European Union can afford to donate more than 150 million vaccines to countries in need without compromising their own goals, Unicef said yesterday.

The world's seven richest states and the EU could help close the world's vaccine gap by sharing just 20 percent of their June, July and August stocks with the Covax jab scheme for poorer nations, a study by British firm Airfinity showed.

"And they could do this while still fulfilling their vaccination commitments to their own populations," Unicef director Henrietta Fore said.

The UK is due to host its fellow G7 member states Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US for a summit in June.

By that time Unicef said the Covax programme being co-led by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, along with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will find itself 190 million doses short of what it had planned to distribute.

The shortfall is in part due to a devastating flare-up of the virus in India, which was due to manufacture and export the majority of Covax doses and is now instead putting them to use at home.

Meanwhile, Britons streamed into pubs, museums and other indoor venues yesterday as the country eased pandemic restrictions.

Across England, Wales and most of Scotland, people once again grabbed a drink, a bite and dine inside pubs, restaurants and cafes.