WHO: Global Vaccine Drive on 'Precipice of Failure' Due to Inequality
The head of the United Nations warned Thursday that COVID-19 vaccination efforts in developed countries could "fall apart" without a better global distribution of vaccines, branding it both "immoral" and "stupid" not to share vaccines equally. Speaking at a World Health Organization press conference, Antonio Guterres warned that if the virus is allowed to "to go on spreading like wildfire in the global south", there is a risk that "very soon" a vaccine resistant varient could emerge. But he conceded that the U.N. and WHO are powerless to force companies to license the vaccine more widely or force richer countries to take into account the vaccination needs of other countries. Also speaking at the Geneva press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the launch of a strategy to achieve global COVID-19 vaccination by mid-2022. The global health body are aiming for 40 percent of the population of every country to be vaccinated by the end of 2021 and 70 percent by the middle of 2022. "Achieving these targets will require at least 11 billion vaccine doses. This is not a supply problem. It is an allocation problem," Tedros said. He warned that the current vaccination figures "mask a horrifying inequity" that has left humanity on the "precipice of failure". Meanwhile, in answer to a journalist's question, WHO Assistant Director-General Mariangela Simao also confirmed that the approval process for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is "about to be restarted" after being "put on hold due to the lack of some legal procedures". Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: / bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: / bloombergquicktakenews Twitter: / quicktake Facebook: / quicktake Instagram: / quicktake
