The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent a letter to its member countries calling on them to join its system of access to the vaccine against Covid-19, reiterating its call against “vaccine nationalism”.
“We must prevent vaccine nationalism,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference, advocating for a pooling of tools to enable the planet to fight Covid-19 .
He said he sent Tuesday “a letter to all member states to encourage them” to join the future system for global access to the vaccine against Covid-19, known as COVAX.
At his side Bruce Aylward, adviser to the WHO chief, indicated that the terms of this device were being finalized, but stressed that more than 170 countries – representing nearly 70% of the world population – have have already indicated that they want to join the mechanism or have expressed their interest.
“We expect a firm response from countries by August 31,” he said.
As the vaccine race intensifies, the novel coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 775,000 people worldwide since the end of December, according to a report established by AFP from official sources.
Once the vaccines are available, the WHO proposes that their allocation take place in two phases via the Covax mechanism.
“During the first phase, the doses will be allocated proportionally and simultaneously to all the participating countries (in Covax, editor’s note) in order to reduce the overall risk. During phase 2, the threat and vulnerability of countries will be taken into account ”, explained Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The fastest way to end this pandemic and reopen economies is to start by protecting populations most at risk everywhere, rather than entire populations in just a few countries,” he said.
He explained that “priority will be given to front-line workers in health and social care establishments, as they are essential to treat and protect the population and are in close contact with groups at high risk of mortality” , namely those over 65 and those with co-morbidities.
“For most countries, an allocation (of vaccines, editor’s note) during phase 1 to reach 20% of the population, would cover most of the groups at risk”, underlined the head of the WHO.
With AFP
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