President Paul Kagame has said that the world cannot accept the new coronavirus pandemic to cause double damage, calling on leaders from different sectors to support efforts aimed at developing needed vaccines.

Leaders of governments, business and the private sector met virtually to raise funds aimed at accelerating the work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) to support the development of vaccines for Covid-19 and other diseases.

Kagame told leaders at the UK-hosted Global Vaccine Summit that it was critical that leaders do everything possible to stop the pandemic from causing double damage to the people.

The Vaccine Alliance, backed by the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation kicked off its operations in 2000 to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world's poorest countries.

"This is a win-win strategy for all stakeholders, which has already proven for new pneumococcal vaccines, saving hundreds of thousands of lives," Kagame said.