It expects deaths to exceed 100,000 a week due to Corona

"Global Health": The world is facing a "catastrophic" ethical failure regarding vaccines

Ghebreyesus denounced the behavior of wealthy nations applying the "me first" approach and attacked some vaccine manufacturers.

Reuters

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said yesterday that the world is standing on the "brink of catastrophic moral failure", in the event that rich countries exclude vaccines against the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) while the poorest countries suffer, while the organization expected to exceed The world dies 100,000 a week due to "Covid-19".

In detail, Ghebreyesus denounced the behavior of rich countries that apply the "me first" approach, and at the same time attacked vaccine manufacturers seeking approval from the regulatory authorities in rich countries, instead of submitting their data to the Health Organization in order to give the green light to using the vaccine globally.

He said that promises of equal access worldwide to the emerging coronavirus vaccines face serious risks, in a speech in Geneva at the opening of a meeting of the organization's executive council.

Ghebreyesus said that 39 million doses of the Corona vaccine have so far been given in at least 49 of the highest-income countries.

Meanwhile, “only 25 doses were provided in one of the lowest-income countries.

Not 25 million, not 25 thousand, only 25 ».

"I'll be very frank," he added.

The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure, and the price of this failure will be paid by lives and livelihoods in the poorest countries in the world ».

He stressed that while some countries offer reassuring words about equal access to the vaccine, they give priority to their own deals with manufacturers, which leads to high prices, and attempts to circumvent the waiting list.

He said 44 of those agreements were concluded in 2020, and at least 12 have been signed since the beginning of the year.

Ghebreyesus warned that "what exacerbates the situation is that most manufacturers give priority to obtaining the approval of the regulatory authorities in rich countries, where profits are the highest, instead of submitting complete files to the World Health Organization."

He believed that "this approach that puts the individual interest first not only leaves the poorest countries and the most vulnerable people in the world at risk, but also leads to the opposite result."

"Ultimately, this behavior will prolong the epidemic, and prolong our suffering and the restrictions necessary to contain it, and the human and economic suffering," he added.

Only the World Health Organization has agreed to verify the emergency use of the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine, and Tedros has urged other manufacturers to submit their data for regulatory review.

Kovacs, a joint global platform for the procurement and distribution of vaccines led by the World Health Organization, has signed agreements with five manufacturers to acquire two billion doses of the vaccine.

It aims to secure vaccines for 20% of the population in each participating country by the end of the year, while covering funding for the 92 low and middle income economies.

"We aim to start deliveries in February," Tedros affirmed.

He said that the recent emergence of rapidly spreading virus mutations makes the rapid and fair introduction of vaccines even more important.

"Vaccines are an injection in the arm that we all need - literally and figuratively," he added.

Tedros insisted that "there will be enough vaccine for everyone."

"But it is not right for younger and healthier adults in rich countries to be vaccinated before health workers and elderly people in poor countries," he said.

The new Corona virus has killed more than 2 million people since the disease appeared in China in late 2019.

It is believed that the disease originated in an unspecified type of bat.

Tedros said the epidemic showed that human, animal and planet health are intertwined.

He added that "more than 70% of the emerging diseases discovered in recent years are related to animal-to-human transmission."

"One year after the biggest crisis of our time, there is no doubt that we are still facing an unprecedented danger," he said.

The chief emergency expert at WHO, Mike Ryan, said yesterday that global deaths due to "Covid-19" disease are expected to exceed 100,000 per week, from more than 93,000 last week.

In an update of the epidemiological report, which he presented at a meeting of the organization's council, he said that the region of the Americas records about 47% of the current death toll.

In Europe, the numbers of deaths and injuries are stabilizing, but at high levels.

"Currently, the epidemiological situation is dynamic and variable, and the new strains have increased its complexity," he added.

On the other hand, the Greek authorities allowed, yesterday, the stores to open their doors for the first time in two months, as the government took its first steps towards easing restrictions on the Corona virus, in an attempt to restore the soul of the retail sector that was severely affected.

Authorities have allowed retailers who provide non-essential customer service under severe restrictions, with shoppers required to register via instant messaging, and appointments in hair salons are booked.

But companies welcomed the first sign of life returning to normal.

Yesterday, Greek authorities allowed stores to open their doors for the first time in two months.

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