Guterres calls for fair distribution around the world

World Health: The first dose of the Corona vaccine will be delivered to poor countries in the first quarter of 2021

An American woman in Ohio receives a vaccine against "Corona".

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The World Health Organization and the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) cooperating with it, which have set up a mechanism to distribute vaccines against the emerging corona virus in poor countries, announced that they expect to send the first doses to these countries in the first quarter of 2021, while the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called for Fair distribution of vaccines against Coronavirus worldwide.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a press conference that this mechanism called "Kovacs" (or what it means to reach the global reach of the vaccine against Covid-19) "guaranteed access to about two billion doses."

The World Health Organization has set a goal to obtain by the year 2021 two billion doses, still in the process of production, for the benefit of the 190 countries participating in the Kovacs mechanism.

The Health Organization and the Gavi Alliance announced in a statement that it has become possible to “prepare for the first vaccine deliveries during the first quarter of 2021, as the first part of the doses - which is sufficient to protect workers in the health sector and social services - will be delivered during the first quarter of 2021 for each The participating economies (in the Kovacs mechanism) that requested doses at this time. ”

Further deliveries of vaccines to all participants will take place during the second quarter of 2021, and the goal is to secure doses for up to 20% of citizens in the participating countries before the end of the year, according to the statement.

"Today's announcements offer the clearest path so far to end the acute phase of the epidemic by protecting the most vulnerable people in the whole world," he added.

In 2022 additional doses will be provided, allowing for higher levels of protection.

The two partner organizations indicated that the delivery of vaccines depends on several factors, including approval by regulatory authorities and the state of readiness in countries.

This comes at a time when the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, called for a fair distribution of vaccines against the Corona virus around the world.

Yesterday, in Berlin, Guterres said in a speech delivered in the German parliament, "Bundestag": "It is important now to view vaccinations as a global public good."

It should be available and affordable everywhere, and for everyone.

The vaccine belongs to the people. ”

Guterres expressed, to the applause of the deputies, his deep appreciation to the founders of the German company "Biontech" for vital medicines, Ujur Shaheen and Ozlem Turishi, for their "great contribution to developing a vaccine", and thanked the German government for its commitment to developing and equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.

Guterres said that the "disinformation virus" must also be confronted. "All over the world, we see populism ignoring science and misleading people," Guterres said.

Misleading information, myths and unbridled conspiracy theories are spreading, stressing that the United Nations is working to "build confidence in vaccination, based on science and facts."

In the same context, China intends to start a program to vaccinate citizens in the remote southwestern Sichuan Province early next year.

And at least one million people have already received vaccinations in China, after two vaccines "for use in emergency situations" were approved.

A provincial health official told local media that vaccines will be made available to the general public in Sichuan after the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

Officials said Thursday that 118,000 doses of vaccine have reached the province so far.

While the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip seek to secure their own doses, which health authorities say are still a distance of time measured in months.

Palestinian leaders expanded the research circle, and established contacts with international organizations and pharmaceutical companies, such as Moderna and AstraZeneca, and countries such as Russia and China that produce their own vaccines.

But the Palestinian government, which is bound by financial constraints, has not finally concluded any special agreements to supply the vaccine.

The Palestinian Prime Minister, Muhammad Shtayyeh, said the day before yesterday: "The completion of the arrival of sufficient quantities of the vaccine that will enable us to vaccinate the masses will not be months before today."

The Palestinian Authority expects to obtain 20% of its needs from the World Health Organization's vaccination program for poor and middle-income countries, and says that the rest will come from purchases paid for by the Palestinian Authority or donors.

The Palestinian Minister of Health, Mai al-Kaila, said that the authority may receive, at its discretion, the first shipment of the vaccine by March, but did not clarify its source.

New infections with the Coronavirus have increased in recent weeks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as the Gaza Strip recorded 237 deaths and more than 32,000 cases of Coronavirus, while the West Bank recorded 86,594 cases and 846 deaths.

The World Health Organization says it is working with United Nations agencies to secure vaccines and medical equipment for Gaza.

In addition, Israel begins vaccinating its citizens against "Covid-19" disease, today. The Israeli Deputy Minister of Health, Yoav Kish, said that Israel will consider helping the Palestinian Authority if "we believe that we have met Israel's needs, and we have additional capacity."

Vaccine deliveries depend on several factors, including regulatory authority approval and country preparedness.

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