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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, let me start by asking you, you’re launching an appeal for a big global coordinated vaccine appeal. You want to try to raise, you know, $8 billion in the service of this effort.
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Yes, well, we all know that this virus knows no borders and no nationalities and it kills people and we had to lockdown our economies. So, the only way to fight this virus is to find a vaccine. And not only to find and produce the vaccine, but also to make sure that it is deployed then in every corner in the world. And this is a big global endeavor and we need money for that. And therefor, we aligned the stakeholders like the W.H.O., the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Welcome Trust, just to name a few, and CEPI and Gavi are supporting this. And we aligned the countries, mainly the G20. We have co-leads, for example, the presidency of G20, Saudi Arabia, but also the incoming presidency, Italy, and as co-leads, France, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, Canada and many, many other countries are joining that. And indeed, we want to raise $8 billion and we all know that this is just the beginning. We will need more.
AMANPOUR: It looks like what people have been since the beginning, some kind of global taskforce to really coordinate many things, but in this case vaccines. I know that the U.S. government has not been particularly reliable as a leader in this moment, but it is just not willing to participate. Have you ever come across that kind of reaction of the United States in a global crisis like this?
VON DER LEYEN: Well, the United States are doing a lot domestically, what research for vaccine is concerned. And indeed, they are informed about our global initiative. And I hope that in the one or the other way they decide to join. But for sure, the American footprint is there because we have outstanding American scientists and philanthropist that are joining our call for action. And I’m very glad about that. So, we invited the whole world and I think the whole world is joining.
About This Episode EXPAND
The president of the European Commission tells Christiane Amanpour about a global fundraiser for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado explains the pandemic’s threat to indigenous populations in his country. Alex Stamos, director of the Stanford Internet Observatory, discusses U.S.-China relations and the dangers of disinformation campaigns.
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