MOSCOW – The coronavirus pandemic will come to an end when all countries start using available health tools effectively, World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“The pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it. It is in our hands. We have all the tools we need: effective public health tools and effective medical tools. But the world has not used those tools well. With almost 50,000 deaths a week, the pandemic is far from over,” the Sputnik news agency reported Tedros as saying yesterday in his address at the World Health Summit in Berlin.
The WHO chief called on G20 countries that have already vaccinated 40% of their population to actively engage in the Covax mechanism, as well as the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT).
Yesterday, UN secretary-general António Guterres called on G20 countries to collect US$8 billion (RM33.2 billion) to ensure a fair distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world.
Also speaking at the summit in Berlin, Guterres said that earlier this month, he joined the WHO chief to launch a global strategy for Covid-19 vaccination, which suggests a credible and cost-effective plan to deliver vaccines to 40% of people in all countries by the end of this year and 70% by mid-2022. – Bernama, October 25, 2021
