Recent breakthroughs on COVID-19 vaccines offer ray of hope: UN chief Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described recent breakthroughs towards development of COVID-19 vaccines as a "ray of hope” that needs to reach everyone and called on G-20 nations to support global collaboration to accelerate development of coronavirus treatments and drugs.

This week, global drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech said ir COVID-19 vaccine candidate is 95 percent effective, including in ults over 65 years of .

“ recent breakthroughs on COVID-19 vaccines offer a ray of hope. But that ray of hope needs to reach everyone,” Guterres said at a news conference on Friday.

That means ensuring that vaccines are treated as a global public good — accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere. A people's vaccine. This is t a ‘do-good' exercise. It is only way to stop pandemic de in its tracks, he said.

Asserting that solidarity is indeed survival, Guterres said that Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and its COVAX Facility are vehicles to get nations re.

Based on current projections, companies expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by end of 2021. major anuncement came just days after Moderna said its virus vaccine has an efficacy rate of 94.5 percent.

anuncements about vaccines and ir potential availability for use among general population in coming weeks and months have offered hope to millions around world in a year that has seen COVID-19 pandemic devastate lives and ecomies with signs of abating.

So far, coronavirus has infected more than 55 million people around world and killed over 1.3 million people even as governments implemented strict lockdowns and restrictions to slow spre of virus that originated in Chinese city of Wuhan.

second wave of infections is threatening to derail ecomies and impact lives again as countries h grually begun to ease restrictions and open up.

Guterres said that over past seven months, countries have invested USD 10 billion in effort to develop vaccines, diagstics, and rapeutics but that USD 28 billion more are needed — including USD 4.2 billion before end of year.

This funding is critical for mass manufacturing, procurement, and delivery of new COVID-19 vaccines and tools around world. G20 countries have resources. I am urging all of m to fully support ACT-Accelerator, he said, referring to global collaboration to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

Launched at end of April 2020, ACT- Accelerator brings toger governments, scientists, businesses, civil society, and philanthropists and global health organizations ( Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CEPI, FIND, Gavi, Global Fund, Unitaid, Wellcome, WHO, and World Bank).

Guterres, however, voiced concern that vaccine myths and wild conspiracies continue to spre on social media, saying it is unfortunate that re is vaccine for misinformation.

“Our UN communications networks are working to build vaccine confidence with factual, reliable, and persuasive content — and reaching out to social media platforms to strengn public trust. All of se efforts are vital to save lives and provide an exit strategy out of this global ecomic and human crisis,” he said.

Responding to a question on wher common policies have been agreed upon or will be discussed for distribution of vaccine during G20 summit, he said re are w more than 160 countries that have committed to COVAX, vaccines pillar of Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

COVAX will be a system of coordination of investments needed, both for development, production, and distribution of vaccines, he said, ding that beyond COVAX, re are or initiatives of different countries that are intending to buy vaccines for ir own people.

And of course, I don't blame a government that decides to protect its own people, but this needs to be done combined with ir commitment to COVAX, Guterres said several developed countries that have ir own programs alrey have joined COVAX and alrey have invested in COVAX to obtain vaccines also from COVAX.

So, I'm hoping that COVAX will be main instrument to guarantee that, indeed, vaccines will become a global public good available and affordable for all. And G20 has a very important role, and I appeal to all G20 members to become members of COVAX. 

(IM CREDITS: Twitter/@antonioguterres)