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UK Pledges £160 Million to Global Vaccine Drive

A healthcare worker prepares a Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in Los Angeles, California, US, January 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
A healthcare worker prepares a Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in Los Angeles, California, US, January 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
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UK Pledges £160 Million to Global Vaccine Drive

A healthcare worker prepares a Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in Los Angeles, California, US, January 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
A healthcare worker prepares a Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in Los Angeles, California, US, January 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Britain on Thursday pledged an extra £160 million to boost global vaccine development, with the aim of being able to produce a global shot within 100 days of any future pandemic.

The money will be on top of the £276 million ($374 million, 330 million euros) that Britain has already given to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global partnership launched in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future outbreaks, AFP said.

"This pandemic is a global challenge and it has shown the best way to chart a course back to freedom is by standing side by side with our international partners," said British health minister Sajid Javid.

"Our £160 million pledge will support CEPI's vital work to cut vaccine development to 100 days and protect us all against future health threats".

The announcement came ahead of the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit in London on March 7 and 8, which will be attended by leading global politicians, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to US President Joe Biden.

The event aims to raise funds for CEPI's goal to develop "variant-proof" vaccines that will work against multiple future Covid-19 strains.

Western nations have faced criticism over the lack of availability of vaccines in poorer and developing nations during the coronavirus pandemic, with former prime minister Gordon Brown accusing leaders of "unforgivable moral failure".

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Cuba Left Reeling after Hurricane Ravages Island

A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
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Cuba Left Reeling after Hurricane Ravages Island

A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)

Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, knocking out the country’s power grid, downing trees and damaging infrastructure. No fatalities were immediately reported.
Hurricane Rafael crossed a western portion of Cuba on Wednesday evening about 75 kilometers west of Havana.
Some 50,000 people took shelter in Havana, with thousands more doing the same in regions south and just west of the capital since they lived in flood zones or in flimsy homes. The main road from Havana to the southern coastal city of Batabanó was strewn with dozens of utility poles and wires.
Lázaro Guerra, electricity director for the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said power had been partially restored in the island’s western region and that generation units were powering back up. But he warned that restoring power would be slow-going as crews took safety precautions.
As Rafael plowed across Cuba on Wednesday evening it slowed to a Category 2 hurricane as it chugged into the Gulf of Mexico before heading toward Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Late Thursday morning, the hurricane was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west-northwest of Havana. It had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (345 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
Earlier in the week, Rafael brushed past Jamaica and battered the Cayman Islands, downing trees and power lines and unleashing heavy flooding in some areas.
Authorities in Jamaica are searching for a couple last seen inside a car that was swept away by floodwaters, police told Radio Jamaica News.
Thousands of customers in Jamaica and Little Cayman remained without power as crews worked to restore electricity after the storm.
Rafael was expected to keep weakening as it spins over open waters and heads toward northern Mexico, although the hurricane center warned there was “above average uncertainty” in the storm's future track.
Meanwhile, many Cubans were left picking up the pieces from Wednesday night, after a rocky few weeks in the Caribbean nation. In October, the island was hit by a one-two punch. First, it was hit by island-wide blackouts stretching on for days, a product of the island’s energy crisis. Shortly after, it was slapped by powerful hurricane that struck the eastern part of the island and killed at least six people.
The disasters have stoked discontent already simmering in Cuba amid an ongoing economic crisis, which has pushed many to migrate from Cuba.
Classes and public transport were suspended on parts of the island and authorities canceled flights in and out of Havana and Varadero. Thousands of people in the west of the island had been evacuated as a preventative measure.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.