The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations building and flag alley, a sunny day.
- Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations.
- 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.”
- Close-up, UN logo, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- 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.”
- Close-up, UNTV camera, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- 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.”
- Medium shot, podium with speakers to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- 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.”
- Wide shot, UNTV camera in foreground and podium to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- 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.”
- Close-up, laptop screen, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- 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.”
- Medium close-up, UN logo, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- 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.”
- Wide shot, UNTV camera in foreground and podium to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights’ Ukraine team, spoke of the deepening impact of the war on the civilian population.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak continues to expand, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 patient recoveries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokeperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir amid a wave of unrest ahead of regional elections at the end of the month.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
UN humanitarians working in war-torn Sudan warned on Friday of growing dramatic needs among the more than 100,000 displaced people now sheltering in camps in the city of El Obeid. "We are providing even not the full food ration to the people, but even that reduced food ration is being shared by the recipients with other families, because they know that they don't have any other source of income," said World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan Country Director Abdallah Alwardat.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘This is a fire’: DRC Ebola outbreak is fastest-growing ever, warns WHO
Infections of the Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have reached record highs and a majority of new cases are coming from “unknown chains of transmission”, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In war-torn Sudan, a deadly new cholera outbreak has already claimed more than 100 lives, heightening serious concerns for vulnerable communities including in besieged El-Obeid, where daily drone attacks reportedly continue to hamper aid access.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Ceasefire reduces violence in South Lebanon, but challenges remain as communities face devastation.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ebola continues to spread in DRC, death toll passes 500 – WHO
The outbreak of the deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is expanding, while the push to accelerate testing and identify effective treatment options continues, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | ITU , ODET , PGA , UN , UNESCO
UN chief António Guterres appealed on Monday for far-reaching, worldwide controls on Artificial Intelligence, as increasingly powerful AI chips that are designed for civilian use shift to the battlefield, where “killer robots” are already the norm.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk addressed the 62nd Human Rights Council during the Interactive Dialogue on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
More blistering heatwaves and other weather extremes are increasingly likely across the world now and in coming months linked to strengthening El Niño conditions in the tropical Pacific, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.