Countries belonging to the G7 and the European Union can afford to donate more than 150 million vaccines to countries in need without compromising their own goals, Unicef said.

The world's seven richest states and the EU could help close the world's vaccine gap by sharing just 20 per cent of their June, July and August stocks with the Covax jab scheme for poorer nations, a study by British firm Airfinity showed.

“And they could do this while still fulfilling their vaccination commitments to their own populations,” Unicef director Henrietta Fore said.