It is the only solution for the pandemic, warns the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, who on Monday recalled “the brutal truth” of this viral disease
Distributing the covid vaccine in the poorest countries is not only a matter of solidarity, but also of pure selfishness. Global vaccination is the only solution to the pandemic, warns the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, who on Monday recalled “the brutal truth” of this viral disease: “If we leave someone behind, in the end we will all be left behind. ».
The rate of vaccination is seven times higher in Western countries than in Africa, which will allow new variants to continue to appear. “We cannot afford that kind of instability,” he insisted. “We need the immunological equality of the vaccine, now.” Without it, he warned, the recovery from the pandemic will be too fragile because new variants will continue to appear.
Last fall the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a plan to vaccinate 40% of the population in all countries by the end of this year and 70% by next year. “We are not even close to those objectives,” he lamented. On the contrary, “at this critical moment we are writing a crooked recovery in stone”, because each variant will mean a new economic scourge.
His call for attention before the World Economic Forum so that all countries and pharmaceutical companies give priority to the COVAX fund, with which the UN tries to alleviate the inequality of the vaccine, also includes preparation for the next pandemic. In other words, “common sense measures”, such as investment in monitoring, early detection and rapid response plans in each country. For Guterres, that goes through a strengthening of the WHO.
Of the 194 states that make up the organization, until last week 88 had vaccinated less than 40% of the population and 36 less than 10%. Covax’s goals have been thwarted by compulsive stockpiling by richer countries, which commit production before going to market, as well as greed by pharmaceutical companies, who do not share licenses or technology. Given that many of these companies are now working on upgrading vaccines to new variants, Gutierrez believes it is time to demand greater global equity to limit the emergence of new variants and steer the economy toward a strong recovery.
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