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FILE PHOTO: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) attends a session on the response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak of the WHO Executive Board in Geneva, Switzerland, October 5, 2020. Christopher Black / WHO / Handout via REUTERS
GENEVA – The director of the World Health Organization, which marks a year since China reported the first cases of the new coronavirus, urged countries on Wednesday to ensure that vaccines are available to people at risk everywhere, not only in rich nations.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, asked for $ 4 billion to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for distribution in low- and middle-income countries through the COVAX vaccine facility.
“This is the challenge we must face in the New Year,” Tedros said in a video message issued a day before the first anniversary of China reporting the first cases of pneumonia of unknown origin to the UN health agency.
“Vaccines offer great hope of turning the tide of the pandemic. But to protect the world, we must ensure that all people at risk everywhere, not just in countries that can afford vaccines, are immunized, “he said.
He also urged countries to combat conspiracy theories and attacks on science, saying that “the choice is easy” and that the world can “walk the last miles of this crisis together, helping each other along the way. from sharing vaccines fairly to offering accurate advice, compassion and care ”for all who need it.
The COVAX alliance, which aims to ensure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries, said on December 18 that it had agreements in place for nearly 2 billion doses, roughly doubling its supply, with the first deliveries expected. by early 2021.
An international mission of experts led by WHO is due to visit China in the first week of January to investigate the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December 2019.
More than 81.84 million people were reported to be infected with the new coronavirus worldwide and 1,788,443 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
“The likely scenario is that the virus becomes another endemic virus, a virus that will remain a threat, but a very low-level threat in the context of an effective global vaccination program,” said Mike Ryan, the lead expert on WHO emergencies, to a press conference on Monday.
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