COVID-19 Virtual Press conference transcript - 1 February 2021
Overview
00:00:14
FC Hello,
all. I am Fadela Chaib, speaking to you from WHO headquarters in Geneva and
welcoming you to our global COVID-19 press conference today, Monday 1st
February. Today's press conference will include special guests who are joining
to discuss the launch of a new campaign by FIFA and WHO in support of COVID-19
vaccines, treatment and diagnostics. Dr Tedros will introduce our special
guests shortly.
We have simultaneous interpretation in the six
official UN languages plus Portuguese and Hindi. Let me introduce to you the
WHO participants. Present in the room are Dr Tedros, WHO Director-General, Dr
Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove,
Technical Lead on COVID-19, Dr Mariangela Simao, Assistant Director-General,
Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, our Chief
Scientist, Dr Bruce Aylward, Special Advisor to the DG and Lead on the ACT Accelerator,
Dr Kate O'Brien, Director, Immunisation, Biologicals and Vaccine, and Dr Semira
Asma, Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery. Welcome all.
Now without further delay I would like to hand over to Dr Tedros for his
opening remarks and to introduce our guests. Dr Tedros, you have the floor.
00:01:45
TAG Thank
you. Thank you, Fadela, shukran. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.
For the third week in a row the number of new cases of COVID-19 reported
globally fell last week. There are still many countries with increasing numbers
of cases but at a global level this is encouraging news. It shows this virus
can be controlled even with the new variants in circulation and it shows that
if we keep going with the same proven public health measures we can prevent
infections and save lives.
However we have been here before. Over the past
year there have been moments in almost all countries when cases declined and
governments opened up too quickly and individuals let down their guard only for
the virus to come roaring back. As vaccines are rolled out it's vital that all
of us continue to take the precautions to keep ourselves and each other safe.
Be a role model.
It's vital that governments enable people to
make the right choices whether it's making quarantine easier to adhere to or
making workplaces safer. Controlling the spread to the virus saves lives now
and saves lives later by reducing the chances of more variants emerging and it
helps to ensure vaccines remain effective.
00:03:25
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an
unprecedented demand for high-quality health data. Timely, reliable and
actionable data is essential for governments and health providers to make the
best decisions to promote and protect health. The pandemic has pushed even some
of the most advanced health information systems around the world to the limit
as they try to keep track of COVID-19 on top of other health priorities.
Strengthening health information systems is an
important part of WHO's work for detecting and responding rapidly to alerts and
outbreaks as well as many other health threats. Today WHO launched the SCORE
global report on health data systems and capacity which provides a snapshot of
the state of health information systems around the world. This is the first
report of its kind, covering 133 country health information systems and about
87% of the world's population.
It assesses countries according to the five
aspects of SCORE; survey, count, optimise, review and enable. The report shows
that globally four in ten deaths remain unregistered. This highlights the
urgent need for investments to strengthen health information systems in all
countries to support the COVID-19 response and recovery and progress towards
universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.
00:05:12
This report doesn't only identify the problem;
it also offers solutions. The SCORE package is a set of tools that I call on
all countries and partners to use to urgently address the data gaps. We can
only make progress if we measure progress. We would like to thank all countries
who contributed to the report and our partners including Bloomberg
Philanthropies for their support.
Strengthening health information systems has
been a key part of WHO's transformation process over the past three-and-a-half
years. Another key part of that process has been a new approach to
partnerships. WHO recognises that we can only achieve ambitious goals by
working with organisations who reach audiences we traditionally haven't.
Last year WHO entered a new partnership with
FIFA to leverage the enormous power of football to promote health. FIFA has
been a strong supporter of global efforts to protect football fans from
COVID-19. Last year FIFA contributed US$10 million to the COVID-19 Solidarity
Response Fund and conducted several campaigns to raise awareness of how to stay
safe from the virus, be physically active and to stop violence against women.
00:06:48
Today I'm honoured to be joined by two of the
biggest names in the world of football; Gianni Infantino, the President of
FIFA, my good friend, and Michael Owen, one of the most prolific strikers of
the past 20 years who won the Ballon D'Or for the world's best player in 2001.
Gianni and Michael have joined us today to
support the Act Together campaign to promote equitable access to COVID-19
vaccines, treatments and diagnostics as part of a comprehensive approach to
controlling the pandemic. Gianni, thank you and welcome once again. You have
the floor. Thank you, my brother.
GI Thank
you. Thank you very much, dear Tedros, my dear friend; really heartfelt thanks
for the opportunity to be here at the WHO today. First and foremost on behalf
of FIFA and on behalf of the global football community I would like to express
my condolences for all the victims of the coronavirus across the world and I
extend my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who have lost
their lives.
Of course our thoughts are also with all those
who are suffering or who have suffered in the last year due to this terrible
pandemic.
00:08:31
Health is of course the number one priority for
everybody all over the world and we feel at FIFA that it is vitally important
that we work and that we act together to defeat COVID-19. FIFA is honoured to
support global efforts to protect people from the coronavirus and to end this
pandemic.
Fairness and team spirit are key values of our
sport. Football's beauty is of course that the sport is open to all people;
girls and boys, women and men all over the world. These same key values -
fairness and team spirit - are needed for today's great challenge; overcoming
COVID-19.
If we act together as a team we can play our
part in the fight against coronavirus and in that way football is also calling
the international community to act together, to ensure that a level playing
field exists in relation to access to vaccines, to treatments, to diagnostic
tests and that this is the case all over the globe.
00:10:08
We have to get this message to a global audience
through football, using football as a very powerful tool for good. FIFA is
proud to use the upcoming platform of the FIFA Club World Cup, starting in
three days from now, and more generally FIFA's global impact to promote the
importance of fair access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics as part of
the ACT Accelerator initiative, an incredible initiative, and to remind people
watching our games and to remind the global football community of the
importance of adhering to vital public health measures.
We all know that the coronavirus does not
discriminate and we ask everybody to play their part in eliminating the threat
that this disease poses to all our lives by maintaining the key steps to stop
transmission and stay safe from the virus, including of course physical
distancing, wearing masks and hand hygiene.
There are many tactics which are needed to win a
football game. At the same time we must take a comprehensive approach to
defeating COVID-19. We must do it all and do all it takes and we must
remembered that the only way we will all be safe is if we make sure that
everyone is safe.
Equity, equity, team spirit, fairness can make
this happen and with this in mind I'm also delighted that FIFA can once more
count on the support of a true football legend to spread this message even in a
more powerful way than anyone else can do.
00:12:14
Michael Owen is here with us and he will help
definitely to amplify the message together with many other FIFA legends so
thank you, Michael, for being with us. Thank you, Dr Tedros, for giving us this
opportunity and the floor and we are on the same team.
TAG We
are in the same team. Thank you so much, Gianni, and thank you for your
continued partnership and support. Now it gives me great pleasure to introduce
Michael Owen, who scored more than 400 goals in a 17-year career for club and
country. Michael, it's an honour to have you with us today. Over to you.
MO Thank
you very much. We are all aware that there have been challenges throughout the
coronavirus pandemic and equally I would like to share my deepest condolences
on behalf of the FIFA legends to all the victims who have lost their lives as a
result of COVID-19. Our thoughts are with their families and friends at this
difficult and challenging time.
00:13:23
It is important that football remains in tune
with society and plays an important leadership role in addressing issues that
affect us all. It has been clear from day one that health comes first and this
remains the case but almost in a different way than before.
As individuals we need to remain committed to
the six-step process. The message is consistent and I am delighted that FIFA's
return to competitive football through the FIFA Club World Cup is also being
used to remind a global TV audience watching our game of the importance of
adhering to vital public health measures; wash your hands frequently, cover
your nose and mouth if you sneeze or cough, avoid touching your face, stay at
lest 1m distance from others, if you feel unwell stay at home, wear a mask and
open a window when inside closed rooms.
Over and above that it is important that both of
you, Dr Tedros and Gianni, remind the powers that be that there needs to be
equity and fairness in access to vaccines. This has been a global pandemic and
globally we need to give access to vaccination. Thank you both for your
efforts.
00:14:54
TAG Thank
you. Thank you so much, Michael, and thank you for using your voice and
influence to support the Act Together campaign. If there is one thing we have
all learned in the past year it's that when we act alone we're vulnerable but
when we act together we can save lives. Fadela, back to you.
FC Thank
you, Dr Tedros. I would like now to open the floor to questions from
journalists. I remind you that you will need to raise your hand using the raise
your hand icon in order to get in the queue. I would like to start these
questions and answers by inviting Graham Denver from Associated Press to ask
the first question. Graham, are you online?
GR Yes,
I am, Fadela. Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone, for being available to
us. A question about the World Cup qualifying games that resume or start next
month. We have more than 150 national teams due to be playing with players
scattering all around the world from their clubs to go to their home countries
to join up with their national teams.
Is this an acceptable risk to be taking at this
stage in the pandemic and is it realistic to keep asking governments to make
exemptions for professional sportspeople in terms of quarantine to make the
games work?
00:16:37
FC Thank
you. President Infantino, please. You have the floor.
GI Thank
you very much. Thanks for the question, which indeed is an important one. We
have been developing together with the World Health Organization already in the
course of last year a so-called back to football protocol. It is obvious and I
want to repeat this here once and for all again that health is priority number
one.
When we play football we want to protect the
health of all those involved; the players, the coaches, the referees, the
officials, the fans and whatever we do and whatever we will do as well in the
next qualifying games for the World Cup or some continental competitions, we
will do by adhering to a clear health protocol which will not put at risk the health
of anyone.
It is always of course a balance that we have to
take but we need to respect the legislation, the decisions of the governments
all over the world. In many countries football has come back; in some not yet;
in some with spectators; in others without spectators so the situation is very,
very different all over the world.
00:18:03
When you organise national team games you also
give hope and joy to people but everything needs to be done respecting health
conditions so we have our protocol. It is put in place. We will monitor the
situation of course in the coming weeks.
We can say - and we were hearing it earlier
today from Dr Tedros again - that the situation is evolving week by week or day
by day. The international games will be in March. By then we'll assess the
situation, we'll see where we can play, in what conditions but we'll certainly
not take any risk with the health of anyone when we play football.
FC Thank
you. I would like now to invite Sophie Mkwena from SABC, South Africa, to ask
the next question. Sophie, you have the floor.
SO Thank
you. My question is directed to the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino.
President, can you elaborate, in terms of ensuring that we use football - or
soccer as we normally call it in South Africa - to mobilise the nation and show
that the world is safe from COVID-19, what is it that FIFA will be doing to
ensure that the world is safe from COVID-19 using its footprint around the
world but its popularity as one of the most popular sports around the world, particularly
on my continent, Africa?
00:19:52
GI Thank
you very much for the question and, by the way, speaking about Africa and
speaking about also the question that was asked just earlier, for the national
team games in Africa in November last year players were coming not only from
the 54 African countries but also from 61 countries around the world back to
Africa in order to play football - or soccer, as you call it.
What are we doing or what do we want to do? We
want to be a responsible organisation at FIFA. This is a new FIFA and we are
aware of the responsibility that we have. We are aware of not only the magic of
football, which of course is very important to millions, hundreds of millions
or even billions of people around the world, but also about the power of
football and we need to use this in a responsible way.
Last year, I think it was on 11th
March 2020 when the WHO declared that COVID-19 was a pandemic; the day after in
the morning I was sitting in the office of Dr Tedros asking him, what can we do
to help? We are facing an unprecedented situation for everyone, for football of
course as well but we want to help, we want to be able to do something.
00:21:23
So we started immediately of course only maybe
with campaigns, with messaging, with supporting and helping through the voice
of football, of FIFA legends, the messages that the WHO and all governments
were spreading because it is true that many children, boys and girls all over
the world, listen maybe more if you have Michael Owen, who is here today, or
other football legends saying that you have to wash your hands than if it is a
big personality of whatever, politics or health or a doctor.
We need to put this power at the service of the
community and that's what we do here as well today. Last year we have been
supporting several campaigns together with WHO. Today we are here to again give
our support to the Act Together process to have equality, to have fair access
to vaccines.
It is important that a message comes as well
from the football community. Football means so much to so many people. We are
all locked down more or less everywhere. We need to come back to normality and
football can help definitely a little bit to show to the people that we are
coming back to normality.
00:22:57
That's why we are here, to co-operate, to pass
the messages that the WHO is also passing and all the governments around the
world are passing and to help and to be part of the team to win this match
against COVID-19.
FC Thank
you, President Infantino. Let's come back to Geneva; Laurent Zero from ATS,
Swiss news agency. Laurent, are you online?
LA Yes,
Fadela, thank you for taking my question; also a question to Gianni Infantino
on vaccine because you mentioned fair and equitable access. There's been a
debate around the Olympics on whether the athletes should be vaccinated earlier
than they are supposed to in order for them to be able to participate in the
Olympics.
There will be two World Cups of Clubs this year;
there are these national qualifiers that were mentioned, the World Cup next
year so what's your position on that for the players? Do you think it will be
possible to have full attendance at the World Cup next year? Thank you.
00:24:21
GI Thanks
again, thanks for the question. Let me answer the last question first. Yes,
next year at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar from 21st November to 18th
December we will have full stadiums. We must have this; COVID will be defeated
by then and we all will have learned to live with it.
But if in two years from now we are not there
yet then I think we will have a bigger problem than the World Cup. We will not
have because there are many, many very competent people working on it starting
from here, WHO so I'm very, very confident that the World Cup next year will be
incredible and will be the same magic World Cup as all World Cups, really
bringing the world together and uniting the world.
After a year or more of confinement, of
lock-downs, of travel restrictions I think we are back and we will be back to
where we have to be.
With regard to to your question about the
vaccines, again if we are here today, if I am here today it's to amplify the
message in relation to fair access to vaccines all over the world. I've been
travelling a little bit in the last few weeks to Asia, to Africa. We need to
guarantee that everyone can be safe and for this we are here to support WHO, to
support COVAX and all the other organisations.
00:26:04
But let me answer very clearly to your question;
in terms of priorities the priority for the vaccines is of course for the
people at risk and for the health workers. This is very clear in our mind. I
don't consider, we don't consider football players as a priority group in this
respect.
Of course for safety reasons in the months to
come in the context of international competitions, of travel and so on
vaccination might be recommended at some point and the Olympic Games, as you
mentioned, are of course only in the summer.
But all this will happen of course respecting
the established order of the solution and there are people who are at risk and
these people should have priority of course to have the vaccines and it's not
the football players or officials.
FC Thank
you. I would like now to invite Shalid Nahar, I believe a reporter from German
Sport TV channel, to ask the next question. You have the floor.
00:27:27
SH Hello.
Mr Infantino, can you hear me?
FC Yes,
we can. You can ask your question.
SH I
have a question about the Club World Cup that has been postponed in China this
year. Is there already availability for a date to get this edition of the Club
World Cup which was planned this year?
GI Thanks
for the question as well. Since you are from Germany you know that we are
starting the new Club World Cup together with Bayern Munich being the European
participant in three days from now in Qatar. Of course it's not yet the big
Club World Cup which should have taken place in the summer of 2021, this
summer, in China.
We needed - and we did so of course very quickly
- to make space for the postponed European Championship and for the postponed
Copa America, which will take place this summer. So we have not yet fixed a new
date for the new version of the Club World Cup.
00:28:37
What we know is that the current version, the
reduced version with the champion of each continent takes place next week or
this week in Doha and then at the end of the year, in December 2021 in Japan
and then we are looking at next year or the year after to see when the new Club
World Cup will take place and this will be again an amazing competition, again
bringing people together from all over the world.
FC Thank
you. I would like now to give the floor to Stephanie Nebahe from Reuters.
Stephanie, you have the floor.
ST Thanks
very much. Can you hear me?
FC Yes.
Go ahead, Stephanie. We can hear you perfectly.
ST Thank
you. I wondered if Dr Tedros might give us an update of his assessment of the
situation in Wuhan so far in terms of access to sites and quality of
information or research received from Chinese colleagues there and whether you
still expect them to visit the Institute of Virology.
I also note that Secretary of State Blinken said
earlier today that China is - quote - falling short in allowing access. Do you
share that assessment or have any comment, please? Thank you.
FC Thank
you, Stephanie. Dr Ryan will take this question or Maria Van Kerkhove. Maria
will start.
00:30:12
MK Yes,
thank you, Fadela. Thank you for the question, Stephanie. The team is on the
ground, as you know, and there is quite a media coverage following them around
so you've seen some of the visits that they have made. They are having very
productive discussions with Chinese counterparts, visiting different hospitals
around Wuhan. They've had a very good visit to the market, seeing first-hand
the stalls and walking through and we've had some good feedback from them of
the importance of being able to physically walk through.
They've also met with counterparts at the Wuhan
CDC and other different levels of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and
they're having very good discussions but, as you know, the plans and the visits
that they have provide detailed information and all of this detailed
information requires analysis, which is ongoing between the international team
and the Chinese counterparts and all of that detailed analysis leads to more
and more questions.
00:31:10
So anyone who's ever been on a mission like this
before - and I know there are many scientists watching this as well - knows
that the more detail you have on the ground the more questions you have. The
teams will follow the information, they will follow the science and continue to
ask questions and analyse data.
They will visit the Institute of Virology; that
is being planned but we do leave them the freedom to decide the visits that
they need to make throughout the course of the mission that they have. Their
focus is on the early cases and they're having very good discussions around
that and we will wait to make an assessment, for the team to do that
themselves. We need to give them the space to be able to carry out this
scientific study.
MR Just
again may I remind everyone that this is an international mission and a mission
that was mandated through the World Health Assembly by a unanimous resolution
asking that the DG send such a mission, which he has done; a preliminary
mission in July and the full mission now. There are experts from ten countries
across a range of all of the key areas needed.
00:32:25
Maria has outlined what the team are doing and
progress is being made but as we've always said, all of the answers may be
there on this occasion; they may not be. We continue to ask the questions, we
continue to push for more data because as part of any investigation of any
infectious disease event as you gather more information you get some answers
and then it creates more questions. It's a detective story and you go through
again and you answer more questions.
The fact that you have to ask a different
question two weeks later to a different person doesn't mean that someone is
holding back information. It means you haven't asked the right question yet so
that's the process and that's the scientific process of discovery and finding
things out; that's what we're trying to do; push back the window so we can see
the origin of this virus, which is important for everyone.
The other thing I would say; many people
externally are making references to the fact that they won't accept the report
when it comes out or the report is already not a report they will accept or
that there's other intelligence available that may show different findings.
00:33:31
I would ask right now as I sit here; no other
country has provided any documentary intelligence or other information to WHO.
We are out there looking for it. We are in the field with experts from ten
countries looking to find the answers. If you have the answers, if you think
you have some answers please let us know.
We've had this here before at this very press
conference; people making allusions to intelligence that was available that had
the answers that was never provided. So who's responsible here and who's acting
responsibly? To say that you won't accept a report before it's even written, to
say that you have intelligence that is not being provided.
I think we need to recognise that at the moment
the international community - not WHO, the international community under the
World Health Assembly of 194 countries has a team in the field that Dr Tedros
has put in the field. It deserves the support of the international community
and it deserves to be able to finish its work.
Not that all the answers can be found this time
but it's certainly, for me, time for people who say and think they have
information to start providing it.
00:34:42
FC Thank
you. Now I would like to invite Bianca Rauthier from Oglobo to ask the next
question. Bianca, you have the floor.
BI Hi,
Fadela. Can you hear me?
FC Very
well. Go ahead, please.
BI Thanks
a lot. Good afternoon, everyone. My question is about Brazil because the
Ministry of Health said that COVAX would send ten to 14 million doses of the
Oxford vaccine to Brazil from February but at the same time PAHO said COVAX
would deliver 35 million doses to 36 Caribbean and Latin American countries
from mid February.
It would mean that Brazil would get at least a
third of doses from the region. I think there is confusion with these figures.
Could you please clarify? We have the plan for Brazil. What can Brazil expect
from COVAX in terms of doses and distribution dates? Thanks a lot.
FC Thank
you, Bianca. I think we will start with Dr Aylward. Bruce, you have the floor.
00:36:02
BA Thank
you so much, Bianca. As we mentioned last week, the COVAX facility now is
getting a better sight line on the timing for the emergency use listing of the
products that it has in its portfolio and the key ones are going to be the
AstraZeneca products that are going to come out and hopefully be available from
February.
What Bianca's referring to, just so everyone is
aware, is over the weekend the COVAX facility has looked at the available
volumes and then it's calculated for all of the participants in the COVAX
facility, all 190 countries what they call indicative allocations so how much
of that product should be available to those countries starting from late
February and then running into March and right through the first half of the
year.
Bianca, I wish I could give you the exact
numbers but as there were 190 letters that went out yesterday I'm afraid I
can't remember exactly what's being allocated to which and for clarification on
that I think the information's just gone out to the countries over the last
day.
They need a couple of days to reconcile that and
remember as well, the numbers that went out are indicative volumes so they're
ranges so for one country it could be from two million to three million depending
on what the final volumes from the producers are, whether or not all these
products get through emergency use listing, etc.
00:37:42
So I don't know what's exactly happened in terms
of the numbers you're referring to but sometimes people read the top end of the
numbers and another audience may read the bottom end of the numbers but there
may be a couple of different reasons if they're not aligning.
In the case of Brazil you may also be aware that
they have bilateral arrangements on the AstraZeneca product so again I'm not
quite sure of the absolute specifics but I think the good news is that the
COVAX facility has been able to go out to all the countries that are part of
the facility over the weekend, give them the indicative volumes and a sight
line on what they look like from February, which is a clear indication of
course that that is the timeline to start delivering from the facility to
multiple countries.
FC Thank
you, Dr Aylward. I would like to invite Dr Simao to add some elements. Dr
Simao.
00:38:39
MS Thank
you, Fadela. Very, very briefly, Bianca, because this indicative allocation is
actually based on projections of what's in the contract but also we will have
to take into account the regulatory aspects. These vaccines will also need to
be approved for emergency use authorisation in the countries.
Also we are still waiting to see the actual
projection of how many doses will be available in February and March from the
manufacturers because you will have seen, there are some glitches in the manufacturing
of the different vaccines at this stage and there may be less volumes to be
allocated - you'll know that - in the next few weeks.
But, as Bruce said, this is an indicative
allocation, there is a range and we put it out so that countries know it will
be coming but the volumes have still to be addressed, the number of doses will
still need to be taken into account according to the supply when the time is
ready. Thank you.
FC Thank
you, Dr Simao. Dr O'Brien, you have the floor.
KOB Yes,
I'd just like to make one other point; for self-financing countries in the
facility countries also informed the facility what fraction of the population
they wanted to cover and not all countries elected to cover 20%; some of them
went lower, some of them went higher.
00:40:21
So the indicative allocations for any one
country also represent, if they were a self-financing country, what their
desire was that they communicated to the facility at the time when they
committed to the facility. I think it's just important that when any
comparisons are being made across countries there are a number of features that
go into these indicative allocations. Thank you.
FC Thank
you, Dr O'Brien. I would like now to invite Tamara from Georgia to ask the next
question. Tamara, you have the floor. Tamara, you have the floor. Can you
please unmute yourself?
TA Yes,
thank you for this opportunity. I'm from Georgian TV company Formula, a
Georgian journalist. I wanted to ask you; two days ago the Prime Minister of
Georgia, Mr Giorgi Gakharia made a statement that he had a conversation with Mr
Tedros and that Georgia can expect the first batch of vaccines at the end of
February.
00:41:38
Can you tell us more details about this
conversation and of course about the vaccine, when we can expect it, how many
doses we can expect and also which vaccine can Georgia expect? Thank you for
this opportunity.
FC Thank
you, Tamara.
TAG Thank
you very much. I think this is a very detailed need for information and it's
very difficult to communicate with countries on details of things through
media. We have a channel to communicate with each and every one of them so I'm
really sorry but it would be better to communicate through that channel, not
through media. Thank you.
FC Thank
you, Dr Tedros. I would like now to invite John Zaracostas to ask the next
question. John, you have the floor.
JO Good
afternoon. Can you hear me?
FC Yes,
very well. Go ahead, John.
JO My
question is basically - perhaps Dr O'Brien can answer it; I would like to know,
what is the current production capacity for COVID vaccines; what have the
manufacturers conveyed to the WHO will be scaled up and if we have a time
period because in previous influenza crises or pandemics we had a good picture
from industry where they were on the production. It doesn't seem to be the case
right now.
00:43:22
MR John,
I'll take the floor only to wish you a Happy New Year and then to pass on to
someone who'll have a much better answer for you than me.
KOB Let
me start off and there may be others who would like to contribute as well. The
COVAX facility has committed supply of over two billion doses for 2021. The
month-by-month indicative supply projections are available on the COVAX
facility website; we'll be happy to post those so that you can easily access
them.
They are based on - not just for the COVAX
facility but frankly the supply projections for all countries are based on
projections from manufacturers about what their expectations are for yields of
the vaccines and for the timeline of those yields and being able to produce the
vaccines.
00:44:21
As you know, for biological products there is no
certainty around being able to secure those yields with 100% surety and we are
hearing about challenges that manufacturers are having on their production so
again we have to emphasise that those month-by-month projections for the
vaccines that have secured contracts are what they are, they are projections
and we are all in the place where we hope that those production expectations
are met.
In addition to the over two billion doses there
are also first-right-of-refusal options on another billion doses in the COVAX
facility for products that have not yet completed their clinical efficacy
trials that are supported for research and development and therefore as part of
the contracts for support of that R&D have the right of first refusal for
the COVAX facility.
Then thirdly there are negotiations that are
ongoing with additional manufacturers by the COVAX facility to secure
additional doses. I hope that gives you a sight-line for where you can find the
month-by-month information and what that information actually means. I'll turn
that over to anybody else who might want to contribute.
FC Thank
you, Dr O'Brien. Dr Aylward.
00:45:59
BA Hi,
John. It's Bruce here. Yes, the simplest thing, guys; there's a fantastic
resource on the web; the simplest thing is just Google COVAX supply forecast
and then you can go and click on it and it gives a great break-down; I just
thought it'd make it a little easier for people to find it. What it shows is by
quarter what the projections for that 2.2 billion doses look like and then it
also provides you break-down in terms of WHO regions, an AU view, a view by
product.
So it's quite a nice document that GAVI has
posted by the best part of the document is what's on the right-hand side of
each page because on each page it has caveats and it explains what the
challenges are around the licensing of those products, the yields, etc.
So I think GAVI and the facility have done a
great job trying to give people as much visibility as possible on the pipeline
and will continue to do so as they go forward. That can be found there but with
the caveats on the right-hand which are so important. We're dealing with a
biologic process here. All the manufacturers are working flat-out to try and
optimise their volumes but at the end of the day there are challenges as you
move from developing clinical trial lots that you use for your trials to the
commercial-scale production.
00:47:23
Often you run into problems with yields and
other aspects that just mean your volumes end up being lower, as we've seen to
the disappointment of many recently but that's part of the challenge.
Everyone's working very hard to get as much product as possible out there but
there will be setbacks and bumps along the road as we go.
SS Just
to supplement that, as Kate and Bruce have said, manufacturing at this scale is
a challenge. We're wanting billions of doses suddenly and the world is not used
to manufacturing this many vaccines so one thing we would like to encourage is
for developers who now have vaccines that have passed the clinical efficacy
trials to really explore how they can expand manufacturing capacity by
partnering with other manufacturers that have spare capacity in different parts
of the world.
This is something that would be useful for this
pandemic but also beyond that because I think it would be building capacity in
different parts of the world and we set up a mechanism; the Director-General
announced the creation of something called the COVID technologies access pool
way back in May 2020 and that was really to encourage and enable anybody who
had products, who had technology, who had knowledge or data that they wanted to
share to do it through that, thereby linking producers and developers who have
the know-how with those who actually have the capacity.
00:48:58
We also have to remember that vaccines need the
raw material, they need to be filled and finished and packed but they also then
need the syringes and the vials and everything that goes with getting the
vaccine into people. So side-by-side with investments in manufacturing of the
actual vaccines we also need to make sure that we have the syringes and needles
and the other materials that are needed.
The COVAX facility has been focusing on making
sure that all of that happens as well but I think more sharing of technology
and looking at innovative ways of increasing production would help meet some of
the shortfalls that we're seeing today.
00:49:38
FC Thank
you, Dr Swaminathan. I would like now to invite Isabel Sacco from EFE to ask
the next question, maybe the last one. Isabel, you have the floor.
IS Good
afternoon, everyone. I would like to ask Dr Aylward; maybe he has in mind
information on the number of vaccines, the indicative allocation that he
mentioned by volumes; maybe he can provide this information. I understand that
it was said last week that this information will be publicly available so I
would like to know where and when this information will be accessible to all of
us. Thank you.
BA Hi,
Isabel. Thank you for the question and sorry I may not have been clear enough
in an earlier comment. About ten days ago the COVAX facility published on the
GAVI website the indicative allocations by region and by month starting from
the February/March period right out through so if you go onto the GAVI...
Actually the easiest way to find it is Google
it; just Google the COVAX supply forecast. If you Google that then you will
find there's a link to a document which is updated regularly. We're going to
try and update that every week or two weeks as numbers change.
00:51:12
What that document will provide is the
indicative allocation by month and by region so you'll be able to see for each
of the six WHO regions how many doses they can expect during each of the
months.
As mentioned in the answer to the last question
there're a lot of caveats or potential considerations that we have to bear in
mind because producers may have smaller volumes than they're hoping for, there
may be delays in providing emergency use listing of a product, etc, so these
may change.
But the indicative allocations are being
published now on the site and they can be found there so if there's any trouble
just contact our media folks, who will be able to make sure you have access to
that important information, again with the caveats that these are very much
indicative numbers and you're all seeing the challenges some manufacturers are
having reaching the volumes that they've committed to so these are subject to
some change as we go forward, especially in the short term.
The other thing that was referred to by some of
our earlier speakers was indicative allocations at the country level but as the
Director-General said, those are direct communications to the countries, to the
Ministries of Health, between the facility and them and best is working
directly with them to understand what their indicative numbers could look like.
00:52:37
But again bearing in mind all the caveats so I
think it's going to be so important and helpful also if the media - I'm not
going to tell you your job but I think the more we can help populations
understand that this is indicative, this is if everything goes right. If
there're problems then the numbers will be lower and smaller but everybody's
doing everything possible to optimise those numbers.
It all comes back to what Mike has been saying
all along, Dr Tedros and Maria though; in the meantime we've got social
distancing, we've got masks, we know how to prevent the spread of this disease
and we have to rely on those during this period, as tough as that is.
FC Dr
Ryan, you have the floor.
MR Thank
you, Bruce; you're absolutely correct in terms of what we need to continue
doing but just also on that with relation to vaccines, certainly Kate and her
team and the vaccination team and our teams working in terms of country support
with the regional platforms and the World Bank have been working on these
vaccine readiness plans at country level.
00:53:41
They're all being currently uploaded into the
public domain too so everyone can see, especially donors and others, what it's
going to take to deliver those vaccines because again we've seen even with
small numbers of vaccines in some countries part of the problem has been
actually delivering those vaccines, generating the vaccine demand, doing the
proper and safe vaccination, monitoring the implementation and doing it
properly.
So vaccine is one part of the solution; being
able to deliver those vaccines efficiently... So we would ask all donors and
all investors and all financial institutions to look at those national vaccine
plans and see where you can invest. It's not just an investment in vaccine we
need. We need an investment in the country's capacity to deliver those vaccines
sustainably and also that will obviously help strengthen core immunisation
programmes as well at country level. So I think there's a good investment there
for everybody to support.
00:54:36
FC Dr
Van Kerkhove.
MK Yes,
I don't want to answer the question. I just want to take the opportunity, as
the least sports person up here, to thank Mr Infantino for the leadership that
sports players play around the world. One of the things we're learning is about
being a good role model and you brought it up in your answer; that sports
professionals, at the professional level but also at high school level,
university level, even the little kid level; being a good role model is what we
really need to see right now.
It's very, very hard to keep up all of the hand
hygiene and the mask wearing but if we have sports players, we have leaders all
over the world to show us that it's cool to do it helps and we can use all the
help we can get.
So as the least sports person up here I wanted
to say thanks because I didn't have an opportunity to say it before.
FC Thank
you. Dr Tedros, you have the floor.
TAG Maria
has already said what I wanted to say so thanks, Gianni. I also thank all who
have joined today; thank you so much and all the best until we see you in our
next presser. Bye. Gianni, would you like to say something as we are closing?
00:55:50
GI The
last word before we go? Of course. Tedros, thank you very much to all the team
here. How should I say? As a normal person who, like billions of those
following this conference, is watching every day what is going on I would
simply like as well to commend all those persons here and all those who work to
make our lives better, to save our lives.
We want to play a little part in that but what
these ladies and gentlemen here are doing, the medical staff are doing; this is
just incredible; we cannot underline it enough. Let me just say as well, when I
hear sometimes criticisms here and there - someone mentioned even today, I can
just appeal to everyone, this is an unprecedented situation.
We all have to work together. We all make
mistakes, everyone makes mistakes but we have to work all together. When I hear
that vaccines have been developed in less than one year, this is incredible.
This would not have happened without the great work of many people. We have to
recognise that.
00:57:05
Now today I heard that there are around 2.2
billion vaccines available. It's not enough; we need to do more, which means we
have to work together. Let's join forces, let's work all together, let's
support WHO but all those who are working to save our lives.
That's why we are here, that's why many, many
players, football players, legends, sportspersons, famous or not famous are
embracing this challenge and this fight all together because united we'll
overcome this. For me this is the most important message; let's continue and
let's win this match. Thank you very much.
TAG Thank
you. Thank you very much.
FC Thank
you, President. Just reminding journalists, you will receive the DG's speech
and the audio file of this press conference just after the press conference and
the transcript will be on the WHO website tomorrow. Thank you all for your
participation and see you next time.
00:58:10