EC to hold virtual concert to raise funds for Covid-19 vaccine

Brussels, Jun 26 (efe-epa).- The European Commission is holding a pledging summit and virtual concert with artists including Shakira and Justin Bieber on Saturday to raise funds towards a Covid-19 vaccine.

The event, organized in conjunction with Global Citizen, is part of the Global Goal: Unite For Our Future campaign.

It came in the wake of the Coronavirus Global Response pledging event which was hosted by the EC on 4 May and registered 7.4 billion euros in pledges from donors around the world.

President of the EC Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement: “We will only end this pandemic when it has been ended everywhere.

“For that, we need to invest in producing vaccines at unprecedented speed and scale. And we need to make this vaccine affordable.

“A task of this size can only happen if the world unites.”

The world donor summit will begin at 1pm GMT and will feature interventions by United Nations secretary-general António Guterres, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Angela Merkel, prime minister of Norway Erna Solberg and United Kingdom leader Boris Johnson.

Donations so far include 6.5 billion euros from the European Union, 762 million from Japan, 551 million from Canada, 457 million from Saudi Arabia, 205 million from Australia, 45 million from China, 54 million from Israel and 45 million from South Korea.

It will be followed by a virtual concert that will take place from 6pm GMT with performances by artists including Shakira, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, J Balvin, Chloe x Halle, Yemi Alade, Christine and the Queens and the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.

The concert will be broadcast live on television and streamed online on the Coronavirus Global Response website as well as other platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

Singer Shakira said in a statement: “Global citizens around the world are calling on world leaders to help bring an end to Covid-19 by urging them to commit the billions of dollars needed to deliver testing, treatments, and vaccines to everyone, everywhere.

“We need health equity and global justice, and we know that only by uniting to fight for the world we want can we build back toward a healthier future for all.”