Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Covid-19: World leaders call for international pandemic treaty

Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a Downing Street briefing

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has joined more than 20 world leaders in calling for a new global settlement to help the world prepare for future pandemics.

In an article for newspapers around the world, leaders including President Macron of France and German chancellor Angela Merkel say Covid has posed the biggest challenge since World War Two.

Another pandemic or health emergency is a matter of "if, not when", they say.

And the pandemic has shown that "nobody is safe until everyone is safe".

Writing in the Daily Telegraph and other publications, the 24 leaders argue a treaty similar to that reached in the wake of World War Two is needed to build cross-border cooperation ahead of the next international health crisis.

The signatories, who include the head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, say: "At that time, following the devastation of two world wars, political leaders came together to forge the multilateral system.

"The aims were clear: To bring countries together, to dispel the temptations of isolationism and nationalism, and to address the challenges that could only be achieved together in the spirit of solidarity and co-operation - namely peace, prosperity, health and security."

The leaders said countries "must be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly coordinated fashion".

"The Covid-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe."

A treaty on pandemics "should lead to more mutual accountability and shared responsibility, transparency and co-operation within the international system and with its rules and norms".

The leaders commit to ensuring "universal and equitable access to safe, efficacious and affordable vaccines, medicines and diagnostics".

The joint article comes in the wake of a disagreement between the UK and the EU over the exports of vaccines.

The EU has been warned by the UK and the World Health Organization against so-called vaccine nationalism after it introduced tougher export controls on jabs produced within the bloc.

It has blamed pharmaceutical companies - primarily AstraZeneca - for not delivering promised doses. AstraZeneca has denied that it is failing to honour its contract.

Last week, EU leaders stopped short of banning vaccine exports, giving their backing in principle for strengthening export controls while emphasising the importance of global supply chains.

At a Downing Street briefing on Monday, Mr Johnson announced that tens of millions of doses of the Novavax vaccine will now be produced and packaged in north-east England.

The prime minister said a deal had been agreed with GlaxoSmithKline to bottle 60 million doses at its facility in Barnard Castle.

The original plan was for the "fill and finish" process by which vaccines are packaged up in vials to be done in Europe.

Novavax is currently being assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Also at the briefing, the PM said the UK did not know "exactly how strong" its defences against another wave of Covid would be despite the "impressive" vaccine rollout.

He was speaking as the stay-at-home rule came to an end in England, allowing groups to meet outdoors and the resumption of outdoor sports, among other changes to Covid restrictions.

Mr Johnson warned more deaths, infections and hospitalisations were inevitable as the UK comes out of lockdown.

But he also said he could not "see anything in the data right now that would cause us to deviate from the road map" for further easing restrictions - with further measures being eased on 12 April.

At that time, shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality will reopen in England if strict conditions are met.

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A further 4,654 Covid cases were recorded in the UK on Monday, compared with 5,342 cases a week ago.

There were another 23 deaths of people within 28 days of a positive test, compared with 17 on the same day last week.

The latest figures show 293,542 UK adults received a first dose of the vaccine on Sunday, taking the overall number to 30,444,829 - with 146,785 having their second dose, bringing that total to 3,674,266.