“The United States will be the vaccine arsenal to fight Covid around the world“: Joe Biden announced it, underlining how the spread of the virus around the world is limiting global growth and how the US has a plan to donate vaccines to all.
Anticipating the issues of the G7, at the end of the meeting with Boris Johnson, the American president explained: «We have a responsibility towards everyone, to offer a helping hand in a difficult moment. America will be the world‘s vaccine arsenal. Vaccination is the key to reopening. As long as the virus rages elsewhere, there is a risk of new mutations that could threaten our population. The United States will donate 500 million Pfizer doses to 92 low- and lower-middle-income countries. These Pfizer vaccines will save millions of lives around the world and will be manufactured in the United States. Our values are those who ask to do everything possible to vaccinate the world. We will lead the world out of this pandemic by working with our global partners ”. The White House then specified that these vaccines will be produced in Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Connecticut and Massachusetts and that deliveries will begin in August. All these doses will be donated through Covax, the global initiative launched to help the poorest countries.
The Atlantic Charter
In Carbis Bay, Cornwall, the official start of the G7 summit was preceded by a face-off between Joe Biden and Boris Johnson. The US president and the British premier appeared smiling in front of the photographers, accompanied by their respective spouses Jill and Carrie, despite the tensions of the eve, linked to the US disappointment at the tensions between London and Brussels over the Protocol for Northern Ireland.
After a meeting, which lasted over an hour, they signed the new ‘Atlantic Charter’, 21st century version of the 1941 agreement between Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, which helped lay the foundations for the United Nations and NATO. The two leaders promise to defend “the enduring values” of their countries from old and new challenges. The new document, “which builds on the commitments and aspirations outlined 80 years ago”, looks at the challenges posed by countries such as China and Russia, with promises to promote free trade, human rights, international order, and to counter “those who try to undermine our alliances and institutions ”. The new charter also targets “interference through disinformation” in elections and opaque economic practices, accusations that Western nations have leveled against Beijing and Moscow. Biden and Johnson also vowed to build stronger global defenses against health threats, ahead of the summit focused on the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have affirmed our special relation, as a special relationship between our peoples and a renewed commitment to defend the values of democracy that we share”. Thus Joe Biden spoke of his “very productive” meeting with Boris Johnson during which he “discussed a wide range of issues on which the United States and the United Kingdom work in close cooperation.” Recalling that a declaration has been signed that renews “the strong foundation of our alliance”, the Atlantic Charter signed 80 years ago, Biden stressed that the renewed commitment to tackle together “the key challenges of this century: cybersecurity, emerging technologies, health global and climate change “. “We discussed common goals in advancing an ambitious action plan for the climate crisis,” he concluded.
Before starting their bilateral summit, Biden and Johnson paused to admire the bay of St Ives together with their wives. “It’s wonderful, I don’t want to leave,” said the US president. In another exchange captured by the reporters in tow, Biden joked: “It was a pleasure to meet your wife. I told the prime minister that we both got married beyond our means. ‘ “I don’t deny it,” the premier replied.
Premier Johnson gave Biden a framed photo, depicting a mural of Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became a prominent figure in the abolition of slavery movement. First lady Jill Biden was instead honored with the first edition of the book The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories by British writer and poet Daphne du Maurier’s. Downing Street has made it known that the choice fell on the writer in particular for her links with Cornwall, a land that has inspired many of her stories.
The look sported by the American first lady, Jill Biden, wore a dark jacket over the dress with the words ‘Love’ aroused the curiosity of reporters. To journalists who asked her the reason for this choice, the first lady replied: “I think we are bringing love from America.” “We are trying to bring unity to the world – he explained – and I hope that people will feel a sense of hope after this year of pandemic”.