Japan PM pledges $500 mil. for global vaccine-sharing efforts

Japan will contribute up to $500 million to U.N.-backed efforts to ensure equal access to COVID-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday at a leaders' summit held to secure funding to boost the global vaccination rate.The sum comes on top of the $1 billion already provided by Japan to the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme as lower-income nations struggle to secure doses amid tight global supplies and the COVID-19 pandemic drags on.Speaking at the COVAX summit, Kishida said vaccines are a powerful tool to fight the pandemic but there remain gaps among nations in terms of access."The …READ FULL ARTICLE