COVID-19 vaccines should be made public for global good, WHO director-general says
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday said that political leaders around the world should try to make the coronavirus vaccines available to everyone “for the public good”, Wion news reports.
Speaking during a press conference at WHO’s headquarters, he asserted the importance of ensuring equal access for all.
"For the fair distribution and specially access to the poor and those who cannot afford, the most important element will be political commitment, especially by our leaders. And with political commitment, of course, that's the only way you can get fair distribution”, he said.
He also referred to “worrying patterns” in countries whereby the privilege of the affluent. ”But one of the worrying patterns we see is some countries moving the other direction. And when there is no consensus on having a vaccine, a global public good, it could be actually be owned by those who have money and those who cannot afford it may not have access to the vaccines. Some leaders have already have called and stressed the importance of making, when available, a vaccine or therapeutics global public good," he said.
Ghebreyesus further claimed that the WHO has formulated and finalised a vaccine distribution framework even before any official vaccine has been approved. Additionally, the WHO chief added that how the fair distribution of vaccines will benefit the recovery of global economy.