“No one is safe until everyone is safe” – this is not just a neat slogan. It’s an urgent call to action for all of us.

But when we look at the global vaccination campaign, we have to admit: Despite significant progress, we are still not on track to make everyone safe: In many countries, huge gaps remain. In Africa, less than 15 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. For millions of children, women and men, vaccines remain out of reach.

This is not only a severe injustice. It also harms our shared interest in ending the pandemic globally: Without universal vaccination, there will always be new variants – potentially more dangerous than Omicron.

Germany is committed to the WHO’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of people in every country. To achieve this, we need more international solidarity. Germany is stepping up its efforts – through its G7 Presidency and on all other levels:

We are boosting our support for the multilateral vaccination drive, again providing our fair share to the ACT-Accelerator and COVAX in 2022.

We are also continuing to donate substantial quantities of vaccines. This year, we are providing another 75 million doses – mostly via COVAX. And we are making sure that these doses go to the people who most urgently need them.

But we must also turn vaccines into vaccinations. That means providing support for local campaigns – ranging from supplies of syringes to training for healthcare workers. We are expanding this “last mile” support, particularly in Africa.

And we must ensure that vaccines are produced where they are actually needed. That is why we are backing vaccine production in the Global South with 500 million euro of funding. The German company Biontech will soon start producing mRNA vaccines in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Rwanda.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Germany looks forward to working with all of you to speed up global vaccinations. We call on all countries who can afford it to contribute to this effort. Progress is in all of our interests. Because “no one is safe until everyone is safe.”

Thank you very much.