PARIS 

French President Emmanuel Macron urged European countries and the US to quickly deliver 13 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine to protect Africans. 

Macron advocated for Africa’s health agenda at the G7 and Munich Security Conference and presented a “simple idea” which he said came after discussions with African leaders.

He said Africa has 6.5 million caregivers but it will take 13 million vaccine doses to immunize all to allow health systems on the continent to resist.

“If we Europeans and Americans deliver this as soon as possible it’s worth a lot of credibility. It represents 0.43 % of doses that we have ordered. If we know how to do this then the West will have a presence and then we will be considered in Africa,” he said from Paris via video conference,

He warned that if the West announces billions to deliver doses in six to eight months, then African countries, under pressure from their populations, will rightly get vaccines “from the Chinese or the Russians.”

"And the power of the West, the Europeans and Americans, will be only a concept, and not a reality," he said.

US President Joe Biden pledged $4 billion to the global vaccine effort at the G7 but the US refuted the proposal of sharing vaccine doses.

A senior US official said: “We're not able to share vaccine doses at this time while we're focused on American vaccinations and getting shots into arms."

A joint statement said G7 leaders agreed “to support affordable and equitable access to vaccines” and increase financial commitments by $7.5 billion to the World Health Organization’s ACT-A and COVAX vaccine facility.

Macron made a similar pitch for vaccine equity and access to developing poor countries ahead of the meeting.

In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper, he called for a European initiative based on cooperation to deliver vaccines to developing countries.

He specified transferring “3-5 % of the vaccines we have in stock to Africa” because it “won’t change our vaccination campaigns.”

And he once again referred to Russia and China which are using influence on vaccines in Africa.

Le Figaro reported that the Elysee specified if European countries are not on board, France will commit and give 5% of doses either as donations or low-cost sales.