The head of the World Health Organisation has welcomed the vaccine-sharing announcements coming out of the Group of Seven summit but says we need more, and we need them faster.

"The challenge, I said to the G-7 leaders, was that to truly end the pandemic, our goal must be to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the world's population by the time the G-7 meets again in Germany next year," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at the summit in southwest England.

To do that, we need 11 billion doses, Tedros said, adding that it was essential for countries to temporarily waive intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the summit's host, has said the group would pledge at least 1bn doses, with half that number coming from the United States and 100 million from Britain over the next year, according to AP.