G20 Agrees to Chip-in to Speed-up Research on Covid-19 Vaccine

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that one of the decisions from the G20 virtual summit was country leaders' agreement to fight the coronavirus pandemic together. One way to do so is by working together to find a vaccine.

"There will be a collaboration between the WHO, GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), and all countries," Sri Mulyani said at a press conference at Bogor Palace on Thursday night, March 26.

Sri said that in a previous meeting between the finance ministers of G20 member countries, there was an agreement to allocate US$4 billion, mobilized from all countries in the world.

The money will be used for research; to speed up the discovery of the new Coronavirus vaccine. "This is being discussed together between finance ministries of G20 nations," she said.

The virtual meeting resulted in G20 country leaders' agreement to focus on saving human lives, as the Covid-19 outbreak is not just a health problem but a human tragedy. "Right now, this is about how the entire world is trying to reduce the risk of spreading. It will have consequences on many things," she said.

In addition, country leaders are discussing how to prevent negative impacts on the global economy and resolve global supply chain problems, especially for heavily needed medical equipment. "As well as to help partnerships in helping poor countries," Sri said.

Ahmad Faiz Ibnu Sani