The United States as first COVID Summit Chair, Belize, as CARICOM Chair; Germany, holding the G7 Presidency; Indonesia, holding the G20 Presidency; and Senegal as African Union Chair, will co-host the second Global COVID-19 Summit, which will be held virtually on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
We will be joined by countries, other partners, non-governmental organizations, and private sector companies who have made financial or policy commitments. Some of those will include South Africa; Canada; Japan; India; Colombia; Republic of Korea; Italy; New Zealand; European Commission; Spain, Nigeria; Norway; Palau; Tanzania; Rwanda; Wellcome; Google; FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics; Rotary International; the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; Clinton Health Access Initiative; Open Society Foundations; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance; and the Mastercard Foundation. In addition, international and regional organizations will participate, such as the World Health Organization, World Bank Group; the World Trade Organization; the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Caribbean Public Health Agency. We will share more about additional participants closer to the Summit.
Together, the Summit will redouble our efforts made at the first COVID Summit and will focus on four key objectives:
- Recommitting Intensity to Global Response. The pandemic is not over, and now is the time to prepare for the next one. The Summit will focus on securing new resources and policy commitments to control COVID-19 in 2022.
- Vaccinating the World. Vaccination remains the most important lifesaving tool in this pandemic. It is also the most effective means to fight emerging variants. This is true for the broad population, and particularly true for the most vulnerable. And it means focusing on both the quantity of vaccinations, but also the quality – including providing effective boosters.
- Protecting the Most Vulnerable. The Summit will focus on getting vaccines, tests, and treatments to those at highest risk, like the elderly, the immunocompromised and frontline and health workers.
- Preventing future catastrophes. By investing now to secure political commitment for pandemic preparedness globally. The Summit will focus on expanding and financing country capacity, health workers, disease surveillance, and medical countermeasures, including through the new pandemic preparedness and global health security fund at the World Bank.
President Biden and fellow heads of state from the co-host nations will kick off the Summit with remarks on how fighting COVID-19 must remain an international priority. The Summit will then feature three sessions focused on getting shots in arms, expanding access to tests and treatments, and advancing health security and preventing future catastrophes. Ahead of the Summit, the U.S. called on the leaders of governments, civil society, businesses, and philanthropies to make significant new commitments.
To date, President has committed to sharing 1.2 billion doses of safe, effective vaccines with the world, and the U.S. has made good on that commitment. The U.S. has shipped over 530 million doses of vaccine to 115 countries around the world, over four times more than our next closest donor. And the U.S. has sent them for free with no strings attached.
The Summit builds the U.S.’s steadfast leadership in the global COVID-19 response and our efforts to engage with the world to do their part to end this acute phase of the pandemic and prepare for future threats. It also reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to continue to push the global response forward, including by securing funding from Congress, because the virus is not waiting for Congress to act. It’s critical for Congress to act with the urgency that a once-in-a-generation pandemic warrants.
The U.S. and the co-host nations look forward to another successful Summit to accelerate the international response to combat COVID-19 and to advance global pandemic preparedness.
You can join us for the Second COVID-19 Summit by tuning in here starting at 9 AM ET: WH.GOV/Live
###
