You're reading: Reuters: World leaders launch plan to speed COVID-19 drugs, vaccine; US stays away

Reuters: World leaders launch plan to speed COVID-19 drugs, vaccine; US stays away

Published April 25, 2020. Updated April 25 at 7:56 am

A healthcare worker holds a thermometer as he takes the temperature of a driver at acheckpoint in Kyiv on April 16, 2020. The checks are done at the order of Kyiv City Council to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the Easter holidays. The restrictions end on April 21.

Photo by Kostyantyn Chernichkin

World leaders pledged on Friday to accelerate work on tests, drugs and vaccines against COVID-19 and to share them around the globe, but the United States did not take part in the launch of the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative.