“Let me be clear: vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it,” the WHO chief said. (File)
Berlin:
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday called for global solidarity in the deployment of any future vaccine against the coronavirus, as the number of cases skyrocketed across the world.
In a video speech at the opening of the three-day World Health Summit in Berlin, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the only way to recover from the pandemic was to get back together and make sure poorer countries had equitable access to a vaccine.
“It is natural that countries want to protect their own citizens first, but if and when we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively. And the best way to do that is to immunize certain people in all countries rather than all people in certain countries, ”he said.
“Let me be clear: vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it.”
Scientists around the world are rushing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, which has killed more than 1.1 million people.
Several dozen candidate vaccines are currently being tested in clinical trials, ten of which are at the most advanced stage of “phase 3” involving tens of thousands of volunteers.
The European Union, United States, Great Britain, Japan and a large number of other countries have already placed large orders with companies involved in the development of the most promising vaccines.
But concerns are growing that countries with smaller portfolios could be left at the bottom of the queue.
The WHO launched an international program known as Covax to help ensure equitable access to beatings, but it has struggled to raise the necessary funds.
“ The biggest crisis ”
WHO on Sunday reported a third consecutive day of record new infections across the world, calling on countries to take further action to stem the spread of the disease.
Agency figures showed 465,319 cases were reported for Saturday alone, half of them in Europe.
“This is a dangerous time for many countries in the northern hemisphere as cases increase,” Tedros said.
But he added that people were not powerless against the virus, stressing the importance of social distancing, hand washing and dating outside rather than inside.
“Over and over, we have seen that taking the right action quickly means the epidemic can be managed.”
Speaking at the same summit, which is being held online this year, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his video message called the pandemic “the greatest crisis of our time.”
“We need global solidarity every step of the way,” he said, echoing the call for developed countries to support those with fewer resources.
“A vaccine must be a global public good,” said Guterres.
“Vaccines, tests and therapies are more than life savers. They are economy savers and society savers.”
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
