Speaking at the media briefing on COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted on May 14 that alongside public health measures, vaccination is key to controlling this pandemic.
The fact that so many are still not protected is a sad reflection on the gross distortion in access to vaccines across the globe, he said.
According to him, India remains hugely concerning. WHO is responding and has shipped thousands of oxygen concentrators, tents for mobile field hospitals, masks and other medical supplies. But it’s not only India that has emergency needs.
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Egypt are just some of the countries that are dealing with spikes in cases and hospitalizations, UN health agency head noted.
There are also spikes in some countries in the Americas in Africa.
These countries are in heightened response mode and WHO will continue to provide support in all ways possible, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
At present, only 0.3% of vaccine supply is going to low-income countries and trickle down vaccination is not an effective strategy for fighting a deadly respiratory virus.
“COVID-19 has already cost more than 3.3 million lives and we’re on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first,” he said noting that saving lives and livelihoods with a combination of public health measures and vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic.
Noting that vaccine supply remains a key challenge, UN health agency head said that last week he was pleased “to see leaders and manufacturers working to address some of these issues.”
“First, there have been a number of new country announcements about sharing vaccines with COVAX, which is the fastest way to ensure equitable rollout of vaccines.
“Second, new deals involving tech-transfer and sharing of know-how between international manufacturers to scale up vaccine production have been announced.
“And third, leaders have called for all trade barriers to be lifted as soon as possible,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
