The World Health Organization's Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he fears that without global cooperation ensuring equal access to COVID-19 vaccines, some countries could resort to hoarding.
WHO has set an Aug. 31 deadline to establish terms for the new pact. Tedros said he sent a letter to the WHO's 194 member states, urging participation.
"Nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of the global supply chain," he said, noting that hoarding by some countries led to shortages of protective gear in the early days of the pandemic. He said that the world's interconnectedness means that"a vaccine developed in one country may need to be filled in vials with stoppers that are produced in another, using materials for the high-grade glass that is only available from yet another country."
"Sharing finite supplies strategically and globally is actually in each country's national interest," Tedros said. WHO's push for an international pact to share vaccines comes as the European Union, Britain, Switzerland and the United States are forging deals with drugmakers that have prospective COVID-19 vaccines in various stages of trials. China and Russia also are working on vaccines.
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