WHO cautions against ‘vaccine nationalism’

GENEVA/ MANILA/ BEIJING: Nations that hoard possible Covid-19 vaccines while excluding others will deepen the pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday, issuing a last-ditch call for countries to join a global vaccine pact.

The WHO has an August 31 deadline for wealthier nations to join the “COVAX Global Vaccines Facility” for sharing vaccine hopefuls with developing countries. Tedros said he sent a letter to the WHO’S 194 member states, urging participation.

The global health agency also raised concerns that the pandemic’s spread was being driven now by younger people, many of whom were unaware they were infected, posing a danger to vulnerable groups.

Tedros’ push for nations to join COVAX comes as the European Union, Britain, Switzerland and the United States strike deals with companies testing prospective vaccines. Russia and China are also working on vaccines, and the WHO fears national interests could impede global efforts.

“We need to prevent vaccine nationalism,” Tedros told a virtual briefing. “Sharing finite supplies strategically and globally is actually in each country’s national interest.”

The European Commission has urged EU states to skirt the Who-led initiative, citing worries over its cost and speed.

In China, a potential Covid-19 vaccine which is likely to be available in the country by the end of the year could cost less than 1,000 yuan (around Rs10,000) for two shots, state media reported on Tuesday.

A unit of the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group, Sinopharm, will likely start producing the vaccine after the third phase of clinical trials and relevant marketing processes are completed by December, the group’s chairperson, Liu Jingzhen, was quoted as saying by the Guangming