Pacific Rim leaders agree to step up COVID vaccine sharing

Leaders of Asian Pacific nations have agreed to step up coronavirus vaccination sharing efforts

Leaders of Asian Pacific nations agreed on Friday to step up COVID-19 vaccination sharing efforts as China said it has pledged $3 billion in international aid to support coronavirus response efforts in developing countries. The virtual retreat for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders included U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin, gathering at a moment when the delta variant is spurring a spike in infections around the globe. “There were two things that came through very strongly from the leaders. One was that this pandemic has a while to run and that there is significant work by all of us to be done, and it needs to look beyond our domestic borders,” said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who hosted the informal retreat. “The second strong theme was agreement and acceptance ... that this will not be the last pandemic we experience and that preparedness is critical.” Xi told leaders in their private session that Beijing would spend $3 billion on helping poorer countries’ COVID-19 response over the next three years, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. China reports it has provided more than 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other developing countries.