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The program, known as COVAX, was announced Monday and will allow 156 participating countries to pool their resources to close bulk deals with pharmaceutical companies while their vaccines are still under development, in an effort to ensure faster and more equitable distribution.
The WHO on Monday urged the richest nations to support the project, which aims to deliver about two billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021. The WHO needs the financial muscle of the rich nations to, in fact , subsidize vaccines for the poorest members. .
Three major economies, the United States, China and Russia, have not joined. All three are following their own vaccination plans.
In a virtual appearance before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin insisted that Russia’s vaccine was safe and effective, and offered free vaccines to UN personnel. Russia’s approval of the vaccine, which came with much fanfare, occurred before it was tested in late-stage trials.
It is estimated that there are more than 130 potential vaccines in development globally.
The Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, said on Tuesday that COVAX “represents the safest means of access, because it includes vaccines from very different countries in the world.”
Mexico has witnessed one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world, with more than 700,000 registered cases, or 555 per 100,000 people, and nearly 74,000 deaths, according to a Times database.
In other news around the world:
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand He apologized after being photographed with supporters without social distancing or masks last week while on the campaign trail, drawing criticism from the public and opposition politicians.
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This year’s awards ceremony Nobel Peace Prize It has been canceled due to the pandemic, the Norwegian Nobel Institute announced on Tuesday. Instead of the usual ceremony at Oslo City Hall, a small event will be held at the city’s university with a limited number of guests on December 10. The award will be announced at a press conference on October 9.
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Russia has reported a sharp increase in the number of new cases, with Moscow the epicenter of a nationwide surge in infections. Official figures released Tuesday showed 6,215 new cases in the previous 24 hours, a sharp increase since the beginning of the month and the highest number of daily cases since mid-July. Of these, 980 were registered in Moscow.
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South Korea on Tuesday it suspended a plan to provide free flu vaccines to about 19 million people, amid reports of problems with the storage of some of the vaccines during transportation. The number of recently confirmed cases in the country, which is battling a second wave of infections, has stayed below 100 for the past three days. But millions will travel nationally next week to celebrate a five-day vacation.
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Sixteen more residential areas in Madrid it exceeded infection rate criteria to return to lockdown restrictions, government data showed Tuesday. Those areas are in addition to 37 that were once again blocked on Monday, raising the possibility that movement restrictions will soon spread further across the Spanish capital region. Ignacio Aguado, the deputy director of the Madrid region, said health services were struggling to control the spread of the virus, while Salvador Illa, Spain’s health minister, urged Madrid residents to stay home as long as possible. possible.
Reports were contributed by Livia Albeck-Ripka, Stephen Castle, Troy Closson, Rick Gladstone, Abby Goodnough, Andrew Higgins, Jan Hoffman, Mike Ives, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Apoorva Mandavilli, Victor Mather, Patrick McGeehan, Raphael Minder, Claire Moses, Campbell Robertson, Simon Romero, Dagny Salas, Anna Schaverien, Christopher F. Schuetze, Megan Specia, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Eileen Sullivan, Katherine J. Wu, Carl Zimmer, and Karen Zraick.
