A second Global COVID-19 Summit will take place on May 12 as part of efforts to put an end to the pandemic and prepare for future health threats.

The US government announced in a statement on Monday a plan to hold the second summit, following the first last year. The United States will co-host the virtual gathering along with countries such as Germany, which currently holds the G7 presidency.

The statement says, "The emergence and spread of new variants, like Omicron, have reinforced the need for a strategy aimed at controlling COVID-19 worldwide."

It also said countries "can mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and protect those at the highest risk with vaccinations, testing, and treatments".

Last week, data from Johns Hopkins University showed that the total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide had topped 500 million.

While a number of people in developed nations have already received their third vaccine doses, the pace of vaccination is slow in the developing world.

The first summit, hosted by the US last September, brought together representatives from more than 100 groups and countries, including Russia. Whether Russia will be invited to the May summit remains to be seen amid its invasion of Ukraine.