UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly on Friday held a hybrid high-level debate to ramp up momentum for universal vaccination against the COVID-19 pandemic with participants calling for solidarity, equality and action.
Abdulla Shahid, president of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, appealed for greater global solidarity to vaccinate the entire world against COVID-19.
In his remarks at the "Galvanizing momentum for universal vaccination" debate, Shahid underscored the persistent inequity in access to these lifesaving medicines and the failure of the international community to protect everyone from the disease.
"Let me be clear: vaccine inequity is immoral, and it is impractical," he said, speaking from the iconic UN General Assembly Hall in New York.
As of Friday, there were more than 428.5 million cases of COVID-19 globally, and 5.9 million deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
Shahid said that although more than 10 billion vaccines have been administered around the world so far - enough to inoculate every person on the planet - some 83 percent of the population of the African Union has yet to receive a single dose.
"It is not okay that 27 countries have vaccinated less than 10 percent of their populations while others are rolling out boosters or lifting restrictions entirely," he said.
Shahid convened the day-long debate to galvanize momentum toward ensuring everyone can receive vaccines, bringing together world leaders, senior UN officials, civil society and non-profit representatives, private sector stakeholders, front-line first responders and even celebrities.
"If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is the importance of collective action - that our strength lies in solidarity," he said.
In a video message to the meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called vaccine inequity "a moral indictment of our times," as it costs lives, damages economies, and allows the virus to circulate and mutate.
Galvanizing momentum means countries share vaccine doses and contribute to the COVAX solidarity mechanism, said the UN chief.
"It means manufacturers prioritizing and fulfilling vaccine contracts with COVAX, ensuring full transparency on monthly production and creating the conditions for the local or regional production of tests, vaccines and treatments," he added.
At the same time, pharmaceutical companies must share licenses, know-how and technology to support vaccine production across regions, said the UN chief.
Funding from donors and international financial institutions also needs to be ramped up, as does the fight against the "plague" of vaccine misinformation, he added.
"We have seen hopeful progress when supply is secured and predictable... when doses are donated with ample shelf-life... and when there is a deep understanding of what a country needs to accelerate vaccinations," said Guterres.
The president of the UN Economic and Social Council, Collen Vixen Kelapile, addressed the dichotomy of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The crisis has shattered lives and livelihoods, among other fallouts, and wiped out advances in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he said.
However, he noted that it has also shown the best humanity can achieve, with the development of vaccines in record time.
"The extent to which we are able to ensure fair and equal access to the vaccines will determine the ability of the most vulnerable countries to recover from the pandemic," he said.
"It will determine whether the world can truly overcome the pandemic, and embark on a sustainable recovery and achieve the SDGs," he added. ■
