G7 ministers to discuss COVID vaccines, animal-borne diseases

UK says G7 health ministers will announce a ‘new international approach’ to reduce the risk of a new pandemic.

The United Kingdom is set to host health ministers from the G7 countries for talks focused on improving the early detection of animal-borne diseases and expanding poorer nations’ access to COVID-19 vaccines. The two-day meeting will begin in Oxford on Thursday. In a statement, the British government said ministers from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States will pledge at the meeting to “combat future health threats by working together to identify early warning signs from animals and the environment”.