The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced yesterday at the UN in New York that, of the 22.5 million vaccines against the coronavirus that Spain has pledged to donate as part of the COVAX programme, 7.5 million will be sent this year to Latin America and the Caribbean, in addition to the 7.5 million already earmarked for that region.
In addition to these 15 million, Spain will send another 7.5 million this year to the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Southern Neighbourhood. In 2022, a further ¤7.5 million will be donated.
In his speech at the 76th session of the United Nations, he detailed Spain’s new commitments, which in 2022 will bring the total number of vaccines donated to 30 million.
“The needs are still immense and that is why we are also going to donate another 7.5 million doses of vaccines for the first quarter of 2022. That’s 30 million vaccines in total for the countries that need them most,” he said.
For the moment, of the vaccines committed, Sánchez announced that Spain has already fulfilled its commitment to allocate 7.5 million vaccines to Latin America and the Caribbean, and will now add another 7.5 million, which brings the total to 15 million vaccines for this area. “We have to go further,” he said.
With these figures, Spain has become, according to the President of the Government, the seventh country that has donated the most vaccines in the world, and the third in the European Union, in absolute terms.
In his speech to the UN plenary, Sánchez also stressed the need to strengthen multilateralism in order to tackle the coronavirus crisis with unity and “global” solutions, and to guarantee a fair recovery that leaves no one behind.
He also announced that Spain will invest 30 million euros in the adaptation fund for the climate emergency in 2022.
Sánchez began his speech with a mention of what is happening on La Palma following Sunday’s volcanic eruption, which led him to postpone his trip to New York until late on Tuesday, having moved to the island.
After concluding his speech to the Assembly, the President of the Government set off on his return trip to La Palma, where he will accompany the King on his visit to the island today.
