Leaders of the 20 biggest economies on Saturday vowed to ensure a fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and tests around the world and do what was needed to support poorer countries struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on Saturday, shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending the G20 summit, held virtually due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Riyadh. Photo: VCG

"We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people, consistent with members' commitments to incentivize innovation," the leaders said in a draft G20 communique seen by Reuters. "We recognize the role of extensive immunization as a global public good."

The twin crises of the pandemic and an uneven, uncertain global recovery dominated the first day of a two-day summit under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia, which hands off the rotating presidency of the G20 to Italy in December. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has thrown the global economy into a deep recession in 2020, and efforts needed to underpin an economic rebound in 2021, were at the top of the agenda.

"We must work to create the conditions for affordable and equitable access to these tools for all peoples," Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz said in his opening remarks.

G20 leaders are concerned that the pandemic might further deepen global divisions between the rich and the poor.

"We need to avoid at all costs a scenario of a two-speed world where only the richer can protect themselves against the virus and restart normal lives," French President Emmanuel Macron told the summit.

To do that, the European Union urged G20 leaders quickly to put more money into a global project for vaccines, tests and therapeutics - called Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator - and its COVAX facility to distribute vaccines.

"At the G20 Summit I called for $4.5 billion to be invested in ACT Accelerator by the end of 2020, for procurement & delivery of COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines everywhere," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.

"We need to show global solidarity," she said.

Germany was contributing more than 500 million euros ($592.65 million) to the effort, Chancellor Angela Merkel told the G20, urging other countries to do their part, according to a text of her remarks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to provide Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to other countries and said Moscow was also preparing a second and third vaccine.

To prepare for future outbreaks, the EU is proposing a treaty on pandemics. "An international treaty would help us respond more quickly and in a more coordinated manner," European Council President Charles Michel told the G20.

While the global economy is recovering from the depths of the crisis, momentum is slowing in countries with resurgent infection rates and the pandemic is likely to leave deep scars.
Newspaper headline: Biggest economies eye aid