In this photo released by WHO, World Health Organisation on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wearing a mask to protect against coronavirus, gestures during a special session on the COVID-19 respnse. The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization says its “best estimates” indicate that roughly 1 in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for solidarity in the rollout of future coronavirus vaccines. In a video address at the opening of the three-day World Health Summit in Berlin, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that it was natural for the countries to want to protect their own citizens first but, he urged, "we must also use it effectively".
"Vaccine nationalism will only prolong the pandemic, not shorten it," Ghebreyesus said.
"It is natural that countries want to protect their own citizens first but if and when we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively. And the best way to do that is to vaccinate some people in all countries rather than all people in some countries," the WHO chief said.
"Let me be clear: vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it," he said.
According to a report with the Agence France-Presse (AFP), The WHO chief also said the only way to recover from the coronavirus pandemic was together and by making sure poorer countries had fair access to a coronavirus vaccine.
Earlier on Sunday, the WHO had reported a third straight day of record new infections across the world and urged the countries to take action to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The agency's figures showed that 465,319 cases were declared for Saturday alone, half of them in Europe.
