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The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, admitted that a vaccine could be available later this year and called for solidarity and political commitment from all leaders to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines.
“We are going to need vaccines and there is hope that by the end of this year we can have a vaccine. There is hope.” Investing in them using the tools we already have is important to obtain better results, “he revealed, quoted by Reuters, during the closing remarks of the WHO Executive Board meeting, made up of experts from 34 Member States.
At the end of the two-day meeting, fully focused on the fight against the pandemic, Tedros concluded that “although there are still unknown areas, we now know more about the virus” that causes Covid-19.
However, the CEO’s claims appear to contradict those of WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, who last month warned that potential Covid-19 vaccines should not be available to the general population before a period of two years. , although the first risk groups can be immunized in mid-2021.
WHO’s COVAX global vaccine program is studying and monitoring nine experimental vaccines, aiming to distribute 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
The two-day meeting, which examined the global response to the pandemic, heard calls from countries including Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia, calling for reforms to strengthen the UN agency.
The government of US President Donald Trump harshly criticized the role of the WHO during the crisis, accusing it of being too close to China and of not doing enough to question Beijing’s actions last year, when the virus appeared over the first time in Wuhan.
Tedros rejected those claims and said his agency kept the world informed.
Three independent panels evaluated WHO’s performance, including the 2005 International Health Regulations, which set guidelines on trade and travel restrictions imposed during health emergencies, and provided updates on their work.
The Independent Pandemic Preparedness and Response Panel, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, met for the first time last month.
“We hope to learn lessons that we can really implement and prevent this from happening again.”Tedros said. “But I would like to make sure that WHO is ready to learn from this and change this organization.”
