February 22 The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Tedros, said on the 22nd that the procurement contracts between some high-income countries and manufacturers of the coronavirus vaccine undermine the organization-led Coronavirus Vaccine Implementation Plan (COVAX) and reduce the vaccines that the program can be procured. Quantity.
Tedros said at a WHO press conference on the same day that lack of funds is not the only challenge facing the current fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Some high-income countries have procurement contracts with vaccine manufacturers, which are disrupting COVAX transactions and reducing the number of vaccines they can purchase.
Tedros said that even if there is enough funds, it is only possible to provide COVID-19 vaccine to poor countries if high-income countries cooperate without compromising COVAX’s completed and ongoing transactions.
He called on all countries, including high-income countries, to share vaccines immediately, and called on vaccine manufacturers to prioritize contracts with COVAX and significantly increase vaccine production.
Tedros said at another meeting on the same day that the coronavirus epidemic has exposed “faults, inequality, injustice and contradictions” within and between countries.
The good news is that the number of new confirmed cases reported weekly has fallen for six consecutive weeks, and the death toll has fallen for three consecutive weeks.
At the same time, countries are developing and approving safe and effective vaccines, giving everyone hope to curb the coronavirus epidemic.
He reiterated that about 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been vaccinated globally so far, but most of them occur in the richest countries.
Therefore, WHO and its partners will spare no effort to achieve the current “highest priority” of equitable distribution of vaccines.
