UN health agency urges nations to donate 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Some two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed globally but only 0.5 per cent have reached low-income countries where frontline health workers and the elderly have yet to receive a shot, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
“This week, we see over two billion doses, we’ll probably pass the two billion doses if we have not already passed it landmark, in terms of number of doses of these vaccines, these new COVID vaccines that have actually been developed. And these have been distributed now in over 212 countries,” said Dr Bruce Aylward, Head of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Hub.
Dr Aylward, who is also Senior Advisor to the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that of those two billion doses, “over 75 per cent” had gone to just 10 countries, notably China, the US and India.
This trio “account for about 60 per cent of those doses”, said Dr Aylward, speaking via Zoom, adding that “at the other end of that spectrum” only about “point five per cent of doses” had reached the lowest income countries, which account for about 10 per cent of world population.
This had led increasingly to “a two-track recovery”, characterised by the successful rollout of vaccines to high-risk populations and even younger populations in higher income and vaccine-producing countries.
By contrast, “in the lower income countries, they’re still struggling to get sufficient product just to be able to vaccinate the health care workers, older populations, who are really the key to getting out of you know, the health, societal and economic crisis that we’re in the midst of,” Dr Aylward explained, in an urgent appeal for 250 million doses to protect frontline workers and the most vulnerable people.
“The call is for a quarter of a billion doses out through the period through end of September to be donated, at least 100 million of those in June and July - that’s what we need to get the system going.”
The WHO official noted that on Thursday the United States had helped to kickstart the appeal and bolster the UN-partnered equitable vaccine distribution scheme COVAX with the announcement that it intended to donate up to 80 million doses, including an initial 25 million shots, this month. “That’s an important start (but) we need many other countries to be joining and important for the US, right, crucially, is they said these doses are going to come in June.”
It was “absolutely ridiculous” that some countries were still unable to protect their key workers amid “escalating epidemics” even though vaccines had been available for six months, he said.
Highlighting the progress made against the coronavirus compared with a year ago, the veteran emergency health expert insisted that the development and increasing number of COVID-19 vaccines should not distract from the continued need by all countries to test, trace and treat their populations.
People will continue to die unless a $16 billion funding gap is filled to pay for sufficient personal protective equipment, ventilators, oxygen and steroid medication to help the poorest nations treat their sick, Dr Aylward insisted.
“We still do not understand well enough this pandemic because we are not enough testing enough. Remember Tedros talked about ‘test, test, test’ literally months and months and months ago; we need to be test, test, testing, we’ve made highly accurate, highly affordable rapid diagnostic tests, but with the fixation on vaccines, we’re not getting the money (needed) over there. And we’ve all seen what happens when this disease hits a country that doesn’t have the oxygen and dexamethasone.”
Globally, on 4 June 2021, there have been 171,708,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,697,151 deaths, reported to WHO.
ends
STORY: COVID-19 update - WHO
TRT: 02 min 55s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 4 JUNE 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘We need all routes to open’: in Gaza WHO calls for ramp-up of medevacs, easier access for essentials
Two weeks since a ceasefire agreement entered into force in Gaza the World Health Organization (WHO) noted progress on the flow of aid while calling for more evacuations of critical patients and eased entry for essential medicines and supplies.
1
12
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNITED NATIONS
UN chief urges boost to life-saving weather warning systems, stresses role of climate change science
No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather — and saving lives means making early-warning systems accessible to all, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gazans’ response to food distributions ‘overwhelming’ as humanitarians scale up under fragile ceasefire
In Gaza, the ceasefire is enabling UN humanitarians to reach more desperate people with life-saving food, but greater access is needed to contain the spread of famine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP , OCHA
UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.