EU joins US in call for fresh WHO investigation into origins of Covid-19
Brussels, Jun 10 (EFE).- The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said Friday it was necessary to know the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, joining the United States’ call for a new World Health Organization investigation.
“It is of utmost importance that we learn about the origins of the coronavirus,” she told a news conference ahead of the G7 summit in the United Kingdom.
“Investigators need complete access to whatever is necessary to really find the source of this pandemic,” the president added.
According to a draft communique for the summit leaked to Bloomberg, G7 leaders will call for a fresh and transparent investigation by the World Health Organization into the origins of Covid-19.
The initiative was taken by United States President Joe Biden to expand the current American investigation which leaned towards the theory that the virus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.
But doubts about this theory emerged after WHO experts concluded it was “extremely unlikely” the virus escaped from a laboratory.
The broad consensus among scientific researchers is that Covid-19 most likely jumped from an animal host in a natural event.
The draft communique, often leaked ahead of the G7 summit, outlines a plan to end the pandemic by December 2022. The G7 will commit to deliver 1 billion extra Covid-19 vaccine doses over the next year to accelerate global vaccination, according to the draft.
Ahead of the summit, Biden said the US would commit to buying 500 million doses for distribution to developing countries.
The G7 summit will be held from June 11-13 in Cornwall. EFE
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