Coronavirus

Former Leaders Urge G-7 To Help Vaccinate Poor

They said the G-7 countries should pay about $30 billion a year over two years to help fight the virus.

Former Leaders Urge G-7 To Help Vaccinate Poor
Matt Dunham / AP
SMS

One hundred former world leaders, including presidents, prime ministers and foreign diplomats are urging the group of seven to help vaccinate the poor. 

In a letter, they said support from the group of seven industrialized nations to help make vaccines readily accessible to low and middle-income countries is not an act of charity, but rather something that's in every country's interest. 

They said the G-7 countries should pay about $30 billion a year over two years to help fight the virus. Leaders from those countries are set to meet this week. 

The U.S. reached another major milestone in the vaccination effort — more than 300 million doses have been administered.

The CDC says almost half of the U.S. population over the age of 12 is now fully vaccinated. And that has made a major impact on the number of cases and deaths. 

The CDC says the seven-day average of new daily cases as of Saturday is less than 13,000. That number was nearly 64,000 two months ago.

But the U.S. still has a ways to go to hit the White House's goal of 70% of adults vaccinated by Independence day.