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02:59
More than 100 world leaders and government ministers are scheduled to speak at the special session of the UN General Assembly that opened on Thursday to discuss the response to COVID-19 and the best path to recovery from the pandemic, which is it has claimed 1.5 million lives and shattered economies. in rich and poor countries.
With news of multiple vaccines on the cusp of approval and trillions of dollars flowing into global recovery efforts, optimism is mounting and the world is looking to the UN for leadership.
General Assembly spokesman Brenden Varma said Wednesday that the importance of this special session is to stimulate concrete actions to address COVID-19 in a multilateral and collective way.
The president of the General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, said that “this special session was a test for multilateralism.”
Fu Jun, professor of political economy and public policy and academic dean of the Institute for South-South Cooperation and Development, agreed that the pandemic is a test for everyone. He believed that we should strengthen multilateral cooperation when faced with global challenges.
This time, however, internal divisions within the United States, as well as increasingly strained diplomatic relations, have made it difficult for the world to fight together.
“My hope is that with a new administration, the United States will come back. After all, the United States remains a leader in many of the global challenges we face, from COVID-19 to climate change,” Fu said.
A vaccine for the new coronavirus is generally considered to be the only way that can help people eventually return to normal life.
Elizabeth M Goldberg, associate professor at Brown University, noted that there are currently two different approaches to COVID-19 vaccines.
The first method is to vaccinate 2-3 percent of the population of each country. And the other contrary opinion is that the distribution of the vaccine may not be necessary in countries where the pandemic is under control, such as New Zealand and China.
As a front-line worker, Professor Goldberg believes that vaccines should be distributed fairly. “I continue to experience a lot of anxiety and fear of going to work … especially with a shortage of staff. It is very important to stay healthy so that we can take care of the people around us. And it is also not known when the next outbreak may occur” said.
According to data from Citibank, developed countries have reserved 85 percent of coronavirus vaccines. Countries in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the European Union have already asked for more supplies than their own populations.
However, the availability of vaccines remains a major challenge for most developing countries. Eric Ding, an epidemiologist and principal investigator for the Federation of American Scientists, noted that due to the limited supply of coronavirus vaccines, the World Health Organization is increasing funding to achieve equitable global distribution of vaccines and ensure equitable access to vaccines in developing countries.
Additionally, the vaccine storage environment also has a large impact on vaccination plans.
For example, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is 95 percent effective and had no serious side effects in the late stage of the trial, should be stored at approximately minus 70 degrees Celsius and shipped in special boxes of up to 5,000 doses, packed ice. Once out of the fridge, it should be used within six hours.
According to Ding, this vaccine may not be appropriate for developing countries because its cost is extremely high, requiring a challenging super cold storage environment.
He added that the Pfizer vaccine requires two doses to be highly effective, making it difficult to implement. “Those one-time, inexpensive, non-frozen doses will be the magic bullet for many parts of the world,” Ding said.
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