EU Commission and G20 to cohost Global Health Summit

The European Commission and Group of 20 (G20) nations will cohost the Global Health Summit in Rome today.

Leaders have stated the Summit will focus on developing measures to improve healthcare systems and combat future crises to ensure global health security. The Summit will also focus on distributing $19 billion gathered by the WHO for the global COVID-19 response.

G20 members are expected to come to a vaccine-sharing agreement, in which surplus shots will be sent to bolster struggling healthcare systems. This strategy will likely fall in line with existing COVAX plans developed under Access to COVID-19 Tools, which offers doses for at least 20% of countries’ populations alongside a managed economic recovery framework.

Intellectual property protections surrounding vaccines are likely to be a controversial target, as many countries in the G20 are undersupplied and combatting surges in COVID-19 cases. However, they are unlikely to be removed, as there is no indication that additional manufacturers can produce the scale necessary to turn the tide or combat new variants. Per the WTO, countries can already issue compulsory licenses to produce vaccines without permission from the patent-holder, though none have done so.

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