Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and leaders of the other Group of 20 countries promised Sunday to support developing nations in accessing COVID-19 vaccines while also committing to delay debt payments for cash-strapped jurisdictions.
In the final communiqué released by G20 summit host Saudi Arabia, the leaders of the world’s most advanced economies promised financial assistance to see to it that countries in Africa and small island nations in the Pacific secure access to COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines in a timely manner.
Some aid organizations have criticized the Western world for buying up much of the planned global supply of vaccines.
“We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people, consistent with members’ commitments to incentivize innovation,” the communiqué reads
In this regard, we fully support all collaborative efforts, especially the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) initiative and its COVAX facility, and the voluntary licensing of intellectual property,” the statement reads, referring to a COVID-19 vaccine project co-led by the World Health Organization and Gavi to ensure poorer countries have access to life-saving vaccines.
Canada has already made commitments to COVAX, which, all told, has secured hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine.
Canada to suspend debt collection from poorer countries
Canada is also a signatory to the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, a program that allows eligible, developing countries to suspend official bilateral debt-service payments during the pandemic.
The program frees up money for countries to purchase COVID-19 treatments and much-needed personal protective equipment or to support workers left unemployed.
The G20 leaders agreed to extend this program to June 2021 and strongly encouraged private creditors to take part in the initiative on comparable terms. The initiative has so far helped 46 of 73 eligible countries defer $5.7 billion in 2020 debt-service payments.
The summit also included talk of bolstering the world’s pandemic response programs to better prepare for any future health scare. The leaders vowed to draft “long-term solutions” to address “gaps” in the global health response.
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The order, which was set to expire tonight, has been extended until July 31st 2020 for public health reasons.
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Ontario has extended its state of emergency to July 15.
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, This means that restaurant patios, hair salons and even malls can resume operations according to the government’s plan.
Ontario, Canada’s largest province by population, started gradually reopening its economy this month.