The heads of state and government from Latin America, Spain and Portugal have called on the world community to draw up an international pandemic agreement.
Latin American leaders complained of an unfair distribution of vaccines on Wednesday at the general assembly of the 27th Ibero-American Summit in Andorra.
“The rich countries have bought more than half of all vaccines, while they only make up 16 percent of the global population,” Bolivia’s President Luis Arce said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised his country would supply Latin American with 7.5 million doses this year, he wrote on Twitter.
Better global cooperation is “essential,” Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.
“It must not be allowed that some have the right to vaccinate their population and others don’t.”
This is in everyone’s interest, he said.
“No country can keep its borders closed forever,” Costa warned.
Pope Francis, who is from Argentina, advocated for equal distribution of jabs in a message to the summit.
At the “summit for recovery,” the representatives of 22 countries with a combined population of 670 million people called for close cooperation to contain the social and economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis.
Reconstruction must be equitable and sustainable, the organizers said.
The group is seeking “fast and flexible international financing” for reconstruction programmes and a “social pact that leaves no one behind.”
Most of the delegations took part online due to the pandemic.
Despite saying he would take part, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro did not attend.