The European Union (EU) intends to invest 1bn euros ($1.2bn; £859m) to build Covid vaccine-manufacturing hubs in Africa.

It will also donate at least 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to low- and middle-income countries by the end of the year, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said.

She was speaking at a Covid summit in Rome, where one of the leading vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer/BioNTech, announced it would make two billion doses available at cost to poorer countries over the next 18 months.

The meeting in the Italian capital – in part virtual – seeks to co-ordinate global efforts to combat the pandemic.