New York, Nov. 21, (dpa/GNA) – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for solidarity among major economic powers, as he pushed for the fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines.
Speaking ahead of the G20 leaders’ summit in Saudi Arabia, Guterres said the recent breakthroughs on vaccines “offer a ray of hope.”
“But that ray of hope needs to reach everyone,” he added. “Solidarity is indeed survival.”
Guterres said he hopes the global Covax vaccine initiative will be “the main instrument to guarantee that indeed vaccines will become a global public good, available and affordable for all.”
“The G20 has a very important role, and I appeal to all G20 members to become members of the Covax,” he told a press conference in New York.
Some 160 developed and developing nations have already committed to Covax, including China. The United States has not.
Countries have already invested 10 billion dollars in the effort to develop vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, but 28 billion dollars more are needed, including 4.2 billion before the end of the year, the UN chief said.
GNA