Saudi Arabia pledges $150m at GAVI vaccine summit

LONDON: Saudi Arabia has joined countries from around the world in pledging money to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) at its Global Vaccine Summit 2020 in London.

This year’s summit was held virtually for the first time, as it focused on the threat from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the need to develop a vaccine for the virus responsible for the pandemic that has shut down much of the globe, as well as claiming the lives of more than 380,000 people.

The summit was opened with a brief speech from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized in April with the disease and has since made a full recovery.

Introductory addresses were also given by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization; Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union; and Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the UN.