The amazing and fast development of COVID-19 vaccinations provides “great hope” that the devastating epidemic may be beaten, the United Nations (UN) Chief Mr. António Guterres said at the first International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation, emphasizing that everyone must be reached everywhere, “as quickly as possible.”
Mr. António Guterres, in a video message, appealed for a Worldwide Vaccine Program to tackle the global epidemic that has taken more than four million lives.
Antonio Guterres Secretary-General United Nations
“This is a matter of fairness and justice but it’s also critical to avoid the emergence of further variants that can resist the current vaccines and undermine national vaccination efforts. A key threshold to ending the acute phase of this pandemic, this will take the largest public health effort in history, we also need an Emergency Task Force at the G20 level to coordinate its implementation.”
The UN Chief praised agreements inked last month with COVAX, the UN-led equitable vaccination distribution effort, for the provision of Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines developed in China, adding the pact opens up the possibility of more than 500 million shots.
The first conference of the International Vaccine Forum was described by a top UN official as “a significant chance to bring together countries with vaccine manufacturing capacities, pharmaceutical corporations, and manufacturers to develop global vaccine collaboration.”
According to the UN chief, it would also involve improving and expanding local production capacities around the world, as well as addressing supply chain bottlenecks. To quadruple manufacturing capacity, significantly more technology and know-how exchange will be required.
Furthermore, The first meeting signifies a step forward in global vaccine diplomacy to ensure that vaccines are distributed fairly. Overall, more than 11 billion doses are needed to vaccinate 70 percent of the global population.
