EU praises jab makers' pledge to poorer nations

A global health summit that underlined the growing disparity between rich and poor countries during the pandemic closed Friday with pledges by pharmaceutical companies to deliver more than 1.3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. Europe is promising another 100 million doses. The pledges made include 1 billion doses from American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech's, 200 million from Johnson & Johnson and 100 million from Moderna. Last week, World Health Organization chief urged rich countries to donate their vaccines before immunising younger populations, including children. During Friday's global health summit in Rome, Draghi said that nearly 1.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered in over 180 countries worldwide.