WHO chief says vaccine need outstrips G7 pledges

The head of the World Health Organisation has welcomed the vaccine-sharing announcements coming out of the G7 summit.

"The challenge, I said to the G7 leaders, was that to truly end the pandemic, our goal must be to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the world's population by the time the G7 meets again in Germany next year," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Saturday at the summit in southwest England.

To do that, we need 11 billion doses, Tedros said, adding that it was essential for countries to temporarily waive intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the summit's host, has said the group would pledge at least 1 billion doses, with half that number coming from the United States and 100 million from Britain over the next year.