At the start of the G7, Johnson made a promise to vaccinate the world’s poorest countries

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The UK will start donating vaccines to countries in need within weeks, with at least 100 million surplus doses being distributed over the next year, Boris Johnson announced as G7 leaders gathered in Cornwall.

The group of seven leading industrialized nations is expected to collectively agree to provide 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine to end the pandemic in 2022.

Leaders – including US President Joe Biden – will spend the day discussing issues including the pandemic before a lavish reception at the Eden Project, attended by the Queen.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will also attend their first G7 events, another milestone in their rise as senior royals.

William and Kate will join the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall for the reception of G7 leaders at the Eden Project on Friday night.

The summit, taking place in Carbis Bay, begins with leaders of wealthy nations under pressure to do more to share the burden of protecting the world from the virus.

US President Joe Biden has already pledged to donate half a billion Pfizer vaccines to 92 countries and the African Union.

Under the Prime Minister’s plan, the UK will provide five million doses by the end of September, with a further 25 million by the end of 2021.

The Prime Minister said: “Due to the success of the UK vaccination scheme, we are now able to share some of our excess doses with those who need them.

“With this we will take a big step towards defeating this pandemic once and for all.

“At the G7 summit, I hope my fellow leaders make similar commitments so that together we can vaccinate the world and better rebuild from the coronavirus by the end of next year.”

About a fifth of the doses promised by Mr Johnson will be delivered through bilateral agreements with countries in need, while the rest will go through the Covax initiative, which distributes vaccines to poorer countries.

Downing Street said by sharing five million doses over the coming weeks, the UK will meet an immediate demand for vaccines for countries hardest hit by the pandemic without delaying the completion of the domestic vaccination programme.

All adults in the UK will be offered a first dose of vaccine by the end of July, according to government plans.

Officials hope that vaccinating people around the world will save lives, reduce the spread of the virus and limit the emergence of new variants that could be potentially more dangerous than existing strains of coronavirus.

At the summit, which lasts until Sunday, leaders from the UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy will pledge at least a billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the world through dose-sharing and funding.

They will also set out a plan to expand vaccine manufacturing to meet that goal.

The Prime Minister will urge the group to encourage pharmaceutical companies to adopt the Oxford-AstraZeneca model of providing vaccines at cost for the duration of the pandemic.

Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, also known as Janssen, have already pledged to share 1.3 billion doses with developing countries on a charitable basis.

In the days leading up to the summit, Mr Johnson has been at odds with the European Union and the US over Brexit and with his own backbenchers, including predecessor Theresa May, over cutting Britain’s aid spending.

The UK has backtracked on its pledge to spend 0.7% of national income on foreign aid, reducing the amount to 0.5% due to the economic carnage caused by the pandemic.

But the vaccine donation will count as additional aid spending on top of the £10billion already promised under the reduced target.

The Government is also looking into how vaccines can be made available to allow more people to attend November’s Cop26 climate summit that Mr Johnson is hosting in Glasgow.

The UK will work to provide vaccines to accredited delegations who would otherwise be unable to obtain them, to ensure countries most affected by climate change are able to properly participate in the discussions.

Response to the pandemic is one of the main themes of the summit, held amid tight security, both against criminal threats and the risk of the virus.

Participants, including world leaders, will be tested regularly, while the size of delegations and the number of press present will be limited compared to previous summits.

India has been invited to participate as a guest country, but its delegation will only attend remotely.

G7 summit / PA wire

There are no plans for the Prime Minister to shake hands with his counterparts and social distancing will be maintained at standard events such as the summit’s traditional “family photo”.

Mr Johnson will hold meetings with Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Italy’s Mario Draghi on the sidelines of the summit on Friday.

Zoe Abrams, executive director of the British Red Cross, said the promise on vaccines was “encouraging” but added: “While every commitment must be welcomed, more needs to be done, and done quickly.

“The G7, as world leaders, must commit to more funding and action to ensure more vaccines can be manufactured. The world’s most vulnerable communities need to be vaccinated in every corner of the world as soon as possible.”

Lis Wallace, head of UK advocacy at anti-poverty campaigner One, said: “It’s great news that Boris Johnson has decided to come to the G7 with a plan to share vaccine doses, but if he really is the ‘ Wants to ‘host’ the most at his own party, then he must go further. This means you are now beginning to share doses to counteract the current global immunization crisis.”

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