NEW YORK-- August 11, 2021 -- A group of 34 leaders from business, government, medicine and academia today published an open letter in the Wall Street Journal, urging U.S. President Joseph R. Biden to lead a G-7 effort to extend Covid-19 vaccinations to the world’s most afflicted regions.

“Millions of people in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia continue to have little or no access to vaccines and remain desperate as the delta variant becomes increasingly rampant worldwide,” the letter says. “Helping to vaccinate populations in other countries is an investment in our own safety as well as global stability.”

The letter notes that at the G-7 meeting in June, member countries made commitments to eradicate the disease and revitalize the world’s democracies. A coordinated global plan is the best way to advance both those goals.

The non-partisan group of leaders was organized by Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of C. V. Starr & Co., Inc. The full text of the letter is attached.