The supply of vaccines to poorer nations has been a focus of talks at the G20 health summit, where leaders called for global unity in the battle against COVID-19.

Manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson set out their plans to scale up vaccine production over the next year, including stocks for the COVAX vaccine-sharing program and the EU pledged to donate 100 million vaccine doses to poorer countries.

The pledges came against a background of criticism of "vaccine inequity," where richer countries have been vaccinating people at a fast rate, including younger people, while many poorer countries wait to get vaccines for their at-risk health workers, the elderly and those who are vulnerable because of underlying health conditions.  

China's President Xi Jinping, who addressed the virtual Global Health Summit via a video link from Beijing, said China had already supplied 300 million doses to other countries.

He announced China would provide an additional $3 billion in international aid over the next three years to support the COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries. 

He also reiterated China's support for a global waiver on patent protections for coronavirus vaccines.

"We must put people's lives and health front and center, demonstrate a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and make extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge," Xi said.

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Xi called for the setting up of an international forum on vaccine cooperation. The platform would involve vaccine-developing and producing countries and companies and would be tasked with exploring ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide.

The leaders will also agree on a set of guidelines on preventing a repeat of the crisis, from investing in global healthcare systems to better exchange of data and improved surveillance of human and animal diseases, EU and Italian officials said.

The EU also announced a new initiative to support local manufacturing in Africa as the leaders emphasized the importance of scaling up vaccination efforts, including through COVAX.

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi, whose country holds the G20 presidency, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are in Rome for the summit, while the other participants – including Microsoft founder Bill Gates – joined via video conference.

Both Brussels and Rome emphasized the diverse cast – from Brazil and India to the U.S., Turkey, China, Russia and Singapore – as proof that the world can come together to deal with COVID-19.

But the final declaration is not expected to endorse the temporary global waiver on patent protections for coronavirus vaccines.

Instead, the leaders will advocate using other tools such as voluntary licensing agreements and technology transfers.

For months, India and South Africa have led calls to temporarily remove the intellectual property protections on vaccines to boost production.