WHO chief warns against vaccine nationalism

October 26, 2020 11:23

As the number of cases continues to surge across the world, the World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called for solidarity in the rollout of future coronavirus vaccines.

The WHO chief noted that it was natural for the countries to want to protect their own citizens first but, he urged, "we must also use it effectively". The WHO chief warned, "vaccine nationalism will only prolong the pandemic, "not shorten it".

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "It is natural that countries want to protect their own citizens first but if and when we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively. And the best way to do that is to vaccinate some people in all countries rather than all people in some countries."

"Let me be clear: vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it," he said.

The WHO chief also said the only way to recover from the coronavirus pandemic was together and by making sure poorer countries had fair access to a coronavirus vaccine.

The WHO chief's comments came at a time when scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against coronavirus, which has killed over 1.1 million people. While several dozen coronavirus vaccine candidates are currently being tested in clinical trials, 10 of those are in the most advanced "phase 3" stage involving tens of thousands of volunteers.

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