Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to all Member States, and thank you for joining us once again in our weekly session.
Yesterday, I met with the Heads of the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization for the first meeting of the Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics for Developing Countries.
The purpose of this task force is to accelerate access and delivery of vaccines and other COVID-19 health tools to developing countries and to mobilize relevant stakeholders and national leaders to remove critical roadblocks.
We are calling on G20 countries to embrace the target of at least 40 percent vaccine coverage in every country by end-2021, and at least 60 percent by the first half of 2022.
We need countries to share more vaccine doses now, including by ensuring at least one billion doses are shared with developing countries in 2021 starting immediately.
We are also calling on Member States to provide financing, including grants and concessional financing, to close the residual gaps, including for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
And finally, to remove all barriers to the export of inputs and finished vaccines, and other barriers to supply chain operations.
Next, let me take a few minutes to discuss the Delta variant, which is causing great concern globally and within WHO.
Delta is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far. It has been identified in at least 96 countries, and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations.
As some countries ease public health and social measures, we are starting to see increases in transmission around the world.
More cases means more hospitalizations, further stretching health workers and health systems, which increases the risk of death.
As we have said, new variants are expected and will continue to be reported – that’s what viruses do, they evolve - but we can prevent the emergence of variants by preventing transmission.
It’s quite simple: more transmission, more variants. Less transmission, less variants.
That makes it even more urgent that we use all the tools at our disposal to prevent transmission: the tailored and consistent use of public health and social measures, in combination with equitable vaccination.
This is why WHO has been saying for at least a year that vaccines must be distributed equitably, to protect health workers and the most vulnerable.
Now, for today’s presentations, we’ll first hear an update on the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network from Pat Drury who runs the WHO Operational Support Team.
He’ll be joined online by Professor Dale Fisher, who is the Chair of the Steering Committee, and Dr Gail Carson, who is the deputy-Chair, and representative of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium.
As you know, GOARN is a key part of the global health emergency workforce.
I very much appreciate the support that Member States provide to encourage their technical institutions and partners to participate in GOARN.
I would like to encourage even greater support for this life-saving network, and especially for strengthening its international deployment capacity.
Next, we’ll be hearing from Assistant Director-General Mariângela Simão on a draft proposal for adjustments in the COVAX allocation mechanism for vaccines for the fourth quarter.
This is in response to issues raised by Member States this year.
We will then finish with an update from Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan, who will present an outline of the mRNA technology transfer hub, and discuss next steps.
And following today’s information session, we’ll be having a briefing on progress within the organization on addressing the issue of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment.
As always, we are grateful for your engagement, and we look forward to your questions and comments.
I thank you.