World Leaders Raise $8.1bn For Coronavirus Vaccine

World leaders on Monday called for cooperation not competition amongst nations in the quest for a coronavirus vaccine, as they pledged 7.4 billion euros ($8.1 billion) at a fundraising telethon snubbed by the United States.

COVID-19 has killed nearly a quarter of a million people around the world — 140,000 of them in Europe — and Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission and the host of the videoconference, said a vaccine is the best chance of beating the disease.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the fundraising as a powerful show of “global solidarity”.

Major European powers, along with Japan and Canada, made the biggest pledges from around 40 countries, but there was no official US representation, weakening the event and raising the prospect of an uncoordinated competition to develop and produce a vaccine.

Some wealthy American individuals did take part, and pop star Madonna’s million-dollar contribution was feted by EU officials.

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President Donald Trump who is in open warfare with the WHO over its handling of the pandemic refused to show up at the conference

Trump  fighting for reelection in November said Sunday that the United States will have a coronavirus vaccine ready by the end of the year.

His prediction was met with scepticism in some quarters, with Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn warning it could take years for anyone to develop a vaccine

With the support from other world leaders and countries, the goal  to contribute funds towards raising 7.5 billion euros was narrowly missed although a handful of contributors did not put a sum on their pledges.

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned much more would be needed, putting the final sum required near 38 billion euros.

“These funds are a kind of down payment for the development of new tools at the speed needed,” Guterres told the conference. “But to reach everyone everywhere we likely need five times that amount.”

In total around 40 countries, along with UN and philanthropic bodies — including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — and research institutes made donations