U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the State Department in Washington, on Nov. 5, 2021. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

       WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- The United States will host a foreign ministerial meeting on Wednesday to discuss countermeasures against the coronavirus pandemic and ways to promote vaccination around the world, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

       The gathering, to be held in a virtual format, follows the September meeting dubbed a COVID-19 summit which was convened by President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

       "We will discuss efforts to accelerate toward vaccine equity and impact," Blinken said Friday in a press release, adding that he and the foreign ministers from participating countries will also discuss "the need for sustainable financing for global health security" and "coordinated political leadership in current and future preparedness and response."

       "Foreign Ministers must play a central role to bring this pandemic to an end and prepare for the future," he said.

       During the virtual summit in September, Biden pledged $370 million to support vaccination in poor countries while urging countries around the world to commit to vaccinating 70 percent of the global population against the coronavirus by September 2022.

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0