Excellencies,
Over the past three days, I have held bilateral meetings with many delegations, and in most of them we have discussed the interim mechanism for medical countermeasures.
This is clearly a very important issue for all of you, and so it should be.
Tests, vaccines, treatments and other products played a central role in bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control.
But the vast gaps in access to those tools are a stain on our collective conscience.
We all agree that we cannot let that happen again.
We all agree that the world needs some kind of mechanism for ensuring equitable access to life-saving tools in the face of epidemics and pandemics.
We welcome the G20 consensus on the WHO-led consultative process.
At the same time, we note that some countries still have some concerns about some aspects of the mechanism, especially low- and middle-income countries who would need the mechanism most.
So we encourage you to continue engaging with and listening to each other in order to broaden support on all aspects of the mechanism.
If there’s one thing COVID-19 taught us, it’s that we are stronger when we work together.
I thank you.