World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is a “light at the end of the tunnel” as progress continues to be made on coronavirus vaccines.
The WHO chief said the world can begin to “dream” about the end of the pandemic, which has dominated global news, politics, and economics for most of 2020. He made the remarks during a high-level session on the pandemic at the United Nations General Assembly.
“With positive results in recent weeks from vaccine trials, the light at the end of the tunnel is growing steadily brighter. Although the path ahead remains treacherous, we can begin to dream [about] the end of the pandemic,” Tedros said, according to the Hill.
“But let me be clear: We simply cannot accept a world in which the poor and marginalized are trampled by the rich and powerful in the stampede for vaccines,” he continued. “This is a global crisis, and the solutions must be shared equitably as global public goods, not as private commodities that widen inequalities and become yet another reason some people are left behind. We shouldn’t leave anyone behind.”
Tedros said that $4.3 billion is needed for investments procuring and delivering the vaccines and that nearly $24 billion will be needed in 2021. He said that despite the chaos and death the pandemic has wrought, it also showed “inspiring acts of compassion and self-sacrifice, breathtaking feats of science and innovation.”
This week, the United Kingdom became the first nation to authorize the use of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech. Other companies have also seen promising results.
Globally, there have been more than 66 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 1.5 million deaths since the pandemic first emerged in mainland China.
