KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait on Wednesday said it would pledge $40 million to a coronavirus vaccination program for poorer countries known as COVAX, as part of efforts to push for fairer and more equitable access to the shots.

Highlighting the complexities of the COVID pandemic, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's representative to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) summit, Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah, said it would behoove the international community to work closely together to eliminate the virus.

The pandemic continues to be a grave challenge thrust upon the entire world, Sheikh Ahmad, who is also the state minister for cabinet affairs, said amid the talks co-hosted by GAVI and Japan via video link, citing a sum of $287.4 million Kuwait had previously provided to help lessen the strain on global healthcare systems. — KUNA