The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, admitted that there may be a vaccine available by the end of this year and called for solidarity and political commitment from all leaders to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines.
“We are going to need vaccines and there is hope that by the end of this year we can have a vaccine. There is hope. Investing in them while using the tools we already have is important for better results “, he revealed, quoted by Reuters, during the final comments of the WHO Executive Council meeting, comprised of experts from 34 Member States.
At the end of the two-day meeting, entirely focused on fighting the pandemic, Tedros concluded that “although there are still unknown areas, we now know more about the virus” that causes Covid-19.
The director-general’s claims, however, seem to contradict those of WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, who last month warned that possible vaccines against Covid-19 should not be available to the general population before a period of two years, although the first risk groups may be immunized in mid-2021.
Nine experimental vaccines are being studied and monitored by the WHO global vaccine program COVAX, which aims to distribute 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
The two-day meeting, which examined the global response to the pandemic, heard calls from countries like Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia, which called for reforms to strengthen the UN agency.
The government of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, strongly criticized the role of WHO during the crisis, accusing it of being too close to China and not doing enough to question Beijing’s actions last year, when the virus appeared by first time in Wuhan.
Tedros rejected these claims and said his agency kept the world informed.
Three independent panels assessed WHO’s performance, including the 2005 International Health Regulations – which set guidelines on restrictions on trade and travel imposed during health emergencies – and provided updates on their work.
The Independent Pandemic Preparedness and Response Panel, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, met for the first time last month.
“We hope to learn lessons that we can actually implement and prevent this from happening again”said Tedros. “But I would like to ensure that WHO is ready to learn from this and change this organization,” he added.
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