Group of Seven countries will provide 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses over the next year to poorer countries and work with the private sector, the G20, and other countries to increase the contribution over months to come, according to an almost finalised draft of the communique.

The COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), aims to secure 2 billion vaccine doses for lower-income countries by the end of 2021.

Speaking at the end of the summit in southwest England, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the “fantastic degree of harmony” among the re-energised group, which met in person for the first time in two years.

The leaders wanted to show that international cooperation is back after the upheavals caused by the pandemic and the unpredictability of former US President Donald Trump.

They wanted to convey that the club of wealthy democracies — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States — is a better friend to poorer nations than authoritarian rivals such as China.