COVID-19: UN chief asks world to reverse 'unfair & unequal' distribution of vaccine

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday condemned the “wildly uneven and unfair” distribution of COVID-19 vaccines among the countries worldwide, citing that the 10 wealthier countries have administered a total of 75 percent of global vaccinations. “At this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community,” Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting, reiterating that as many as 130 poorer countries of the world had not received even a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine. 

Emphasizing the need for global cooperation to make coronavirus vaccine’s equitable distribution and access possible, the UN chief called for an immediate Global Vaccination Plan which will include world leaders, scientists, vaccine manufacturers, and all those that can fund the effort for citizens of the poorer nations to get the jabs to combat the global health crisis. Announcing the creation of an ‘Emergency Task Force’, Guterres said, “the world has to ensure that everybody, everywhere, can be vaccinated as soon as possible.” 

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UN chief warns: 'It will mutate again'

Furthermore, in a dire warning, the UN chief told the UNSC convention that if the coronavirus was left to spread like wildfire in one part of the world, such as the Global South, or parts of it, it will mutate again and again. "New variants could become more transmissible, more deadly, and, potentially, threaten the effectiveness of current vaccines and diagnostics. This can prolong the pandemic significantly, enabling the virus to come back to plague the Global North.  It will also delay the world economic recovery,” he warned.

Under the WHO’s COVAX facility, Guterres said, low- and middle-income countries can procure vaccines but the initiative needs to be fully funded.  He said, that at the G20 summit, he plans to establish an emergency task force to prepare a global vaccination plan and coordinate its implementation and financing. “I am ready to galvanize the full United Nations System in support of this effort.  The G7 meeting later this week can help create the momentum to mobilize the necessary financial resources,” he said. 

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