British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host a virtual meeting of G7 leaders next week to call for action to ensure equal global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and to prevent future pandemics, his office said on Saturday.

Iran PressEurope: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use Britain’s G7 presidency to push for Covid-19 vaccine distribution in “every single country” around the world.

The meeting of the leaders from the Group of Seven rich nations on Friday is the first since April last year, and will be Joe Biden’s first major multilateral engagement as U.S. president, Downing Street said.

As the British media reported, Johnson will call for the G7 to work on a global approach to pandemics, such as designing an early warning system, which would bring to an end “the nationalist and divisive politics that marred the initial response to coronavirus”, his office said.

The World Health Organization has warned that a “me-first” policy towards vaccines by rich nations could leave the poorest and most vulnerable at risk, while also allowing a situation in which the virus could continue to spread and mutate. 219