UK helps raise $1 billion in global vaccine donations

London: Britain said on Sunday it has helped raise $1 billion (818 million euros) from global donors towards the drive to help "vulnerable countries" access coronavirus vaccines, by match-funding contributions.

The UK said, in addition, it has committed £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), after matching with £1 every $4 pledged by other donors.

Canada, Japan and Germany are among the countries to make contributions that it matched, helping the AMC raise more than $1.7 billion in total so far.

The fund will allow for the distribution of one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to 92 developing countries this year, according to Britain’s Foreign Office. "We’ll only be safe from this virus, when we’re all safe -- which is why we’re focused on a global solution to a global problem," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

The announcement came as Britain marks the 75’th anniversary of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly in London, hosting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a so-called virtual visit starting on Sunday.

In remarks to be delivered at a virtual commemoration event, Guterres said the world was "at a 1945 moment", but this time in its war "against a microscopic virus".