EU, US must share coronavirus vaccines with developing countries, Macron says
Russian and Chinese vaccines, whose efficacy against new variants is unproven, will otherwise fill the gap, French president says.French President Emmanuel Macron has called for 3 to 5 percent of the European and U.S. vaccine supply to be sent to developing countries to prevent Russia and China from extending their influence over these nations.
In an interview with the Financial Times by video link, he said Moscow and Beijing are offering developing countries, whose vaccination campaigns have barely begun, cheaper vaccines while African countries were made to pay exorbitant prices for Western jabs. This has allowed Russia and China to promote their own vaccines.
“It’s an unprecedented acceleration of global inequality and it’s politically unsustainable too because it’s paving the way for a war of influence over vaccines,” Macron warned.
