11 billion doses are required to vaccinate 70 percent global population: The UN Chief
New Delhi: The Chief of the United Nations on Friday expressed his views over the vaccination process across the world. In his statement, he said that “More than 11 billion doses are needed to vaccinate 70 percent of the global population – a key threshold to ending the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the first International Forum on Covid-19 Vaccine Cooperation in China through a video message said that “This will take the largest public health effort in history.”
According to several media reports, the global pandemic has already claimed more than 4 million lives.
“We also need an Emergency Task Force – at the G20 level – to coordinate its implementation,” The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said.
To vaccinate the world in a very short time, the world needs to double its manufacturing capacity, a much greater sharing of technology and know-how will be needed.
It will also require strengthening and building local production capacities around the world and addressing supply chain bottlenecks, according to the UN chief.
“This is a matter of fairness and justice – but it is also critical to avoid the emergence of further variants that can resist the current vaccines and undermine national vaccination efforts,” he said.
Also, the top UN official described the first meeting of the International Vaccine Forum as “a critical opportunity to bring together countries with vaccine production capacities, pharmaceutical companies, and manufacturers to advance global cooperation on vaccines.”
