The UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday that a critical shortage of vaccines has left some countries unable to start COVID-19 inoculation campaigns, while insisting on a “vaccines and” - rather than a “vaccines-only” – approach to prevent infections spreading.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris said that “vaccination is beginning to show good effects” in countries that have been able to start their vaccination programmes.

“We all need to be vaccinated now”, she insisted, amid efforts to quadruple the global production of vaccines from the current output of around five billion. 

Preliminary results from countries such as the United Kingdom have shown that vaccination programs have averted very large numbers of deaths, Dr. Harris explained.

But she warned against complacency and appealed for greater vigilance to prevent transmission of the virus: “We have to do it all, we have to do all the public health social measures, we have to get better at the quarantine, better at the self-isolation, better at the tracking tracing and really, really do it, everywhere.”

Highlighting Brazil’s “terrible losses” from the new coronavirus, Dr Harris reiterated that “public health social measures work” – a message later echoed by WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, who urged countries during a scheduled Press conference later on Friday to “stop saying, ‘It’s vaccine only,’ it’s ‘Vaccine and.’”

Dr. Harris acknowledged that it is “very difficult for people living in crowded conditions, so they need the support at every level to avoid the crowding, avoid the close contact, everyone who is potentially infected needs to be identified”.

Brazil recorded more than 4,000 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours for the first time on Thursday, as a more contagious variant fuelled a surge in cases.

To date, the country has seen the second highest death toll from the coronavirus after the United States – more than 340,000 deaths – and as of early April, it had dispensed nearly 20 million doses.

But the world faces a “serious shortfall” of vaccines which has left many countries waiting to begin their inoculation campaigns, Dr. Harris said.

Highlighting the misunderstanding that getting vaccinated stops transmission, Dr. Harris said that this was not the case.

She also warned that the rise in cases and deaths in all regions around the world is in part owing to “an increase in the variants” and “some of it is due to people going out of lockdown and interpreting that as a signal that they got back to this old normal, that as we know has not been working.” 

“We need to bring down the transmission while giving the vaccination the chance to stop the severe disease and the severe deaths,” she insisted.

ENDS

STORY: WHO Vaccine Advice  

TRT: 02 min 50s 

SOURCE: UNTV CH 

RESTRICTIONS: NONE 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS 

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9 

DATELINE: 9 MARCH 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST 

1. Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations building and flag alley, a sunny day. 
2. Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations. 
3. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson: “We are very concerned about the rise in the cases and deaths in all regions actually, all regions of the world are showing an uptake, a little bit less in Africa but everywhere there are very concerning rises in cases and deaths.” 
4. Close-up, UN logo, Room XIV, Palais des Nations. 
5. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson: “Some of it is due to an increase in the variants, some of it is due to people going out of lockdown and interpreting that as a signal that they got back to this old normal, that as we know has not been working.” 
6. Close-up, UNTV camera, Room XIV, Palais des Nations. 
7. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson: “People are misunderstanding that, seeming to think that vaccination will stop transmission. That is not the case. We need to bring down the transmission while giving the vaccination the chance to stop the severe disease and the severe deaths.”  
8. Medium shot, podium with speakers to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations. 
9. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson: “The good news is we are now seeing preliminary results from countries like the United Kingdom that indeed the vaccination programs have averted very large numbers of deaths. But we have to do it all, we have to do all the public health social measures, we have to get better at the quarantine, better at the self-isolation, better at the tracking tracing and really, really do it, everywhere.” 
10. Wide shot, UNTV camera in foreground and podium to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations. 
11. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson: “Brazil has been suffering terrible losses, but the message is, again, the public health social measures work. You have to apply them. Now it is very difficult for people living in crowded conditions, so they need the support, they need the support at every level to be able to avoid the crowding, avoid the close contact, everyone who is potentially infected needs to be identified so that they can be removed from the healthy.” 
12. Close-up, laptop screen, Room XIV, Palais des Nations. 
13. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson: “If we do it all, we will get out of this and the vaccination is beginning to show good effects in the countries that have been able to do those programmes, but we all need to be vaccinated now.” 
14. Medium close-up, UN logo, Room XIV, Palais des Nations. 
15. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson: “We are facing a serious shortfall of doses and we want to see more doses available for the countries, there are still countries waiting to deliver and begin their vaccination campaigns.” 
16. Wide shot, UNTV camera in foreground and podium to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.