Rome, 29 October 2021 (dpa/MIA) - The health and finance ministers of the Group of 20 (G20) summit of large industrialized nations have agreed that 70 per cent of the world's population should be inoculated against Covid-19 by mid-2022. "We will take steps to boost the supply of vaccines and essential medical products," they said in a statement on Friday. By the end of this year, 40 per cent of the world's population should be vaccinated, they said. The ministers agreed to address supply and financing problems that have hampered the distribution of vaccines. They vowed to expand the distribution of vaccines and increase local and regional vaccine manufacturing capacity through joint production and processing deals. The 2022 goal, coming ahead of this weekend's G20 summit in Rome, is in line with a goal set by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, activists criticized the statement, with anti-poverty campaign group One expressing disappointment and concern that the ministers had failed to provide any concrete details. However, leaders can still "turn promises into action" at their weekend consultations, said Emily Wigens of One. "Without new commitments, this summit risks becoming nothing but hot air." Other groups had said ahead of the summit that a 40 per cent target would be hard to meet by the end of the year. While in rich countries about 70 per cent of the population is already jabbed, the IMF recently reported that 96 per cent of people in low-income countries are not vaccinated against Covid-19. The finance and health ministers also said they would establish a joint working group to better coordinate fighting the pandemic.