COVID-19 Virtual Press conference transcript - 7 June 2021
Overview
00:00:28
TJ Hello
to everyone, and welcome to a regular WHO Press Briefing on COVID-19. My name
is Tarik Jasarevic and I’m happy to be back with all of you. Today we will have
a simultaneous interpretation in six UN languages, plus Portuguese and Hindi,
and we have a number of speakers available to answer your questions.
With us here we have Dr Tedros, WHO
Director-General; Dr Mike Ryan, who’s Executive Director of Health Emergency
Programme; Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical Lead on COVID-19; Dr Soumya
Swaminathan, our Chief Scientist; Dr Mariangela Simao, Assistant
Director-General Access to Medicines and Health Products, and Dr Bruce Aylward,
Senior Advisor to the Director-General and the Lead on ACT-Accelerator. We also
have online, Derek Walton, who is our legal counsel in case some questions may
be relevant to him. With this I will hand the floor to Dr Tedros for his
opening remarks.
TAG Thank
you, Tarik, and welcome. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. Globally,
we continue to see encouraging signs in the trajectory of the pandemic. The
number of new cases of COVID-19 reported to WHO has now declined for six weeks
in a row, and deaths have declined for five weeks. However, we still see a
mixed picture around the world. The number of deaths reported last week
increased in three out of WHO’s six regions, Africa, the Americas and the
Western Pacific.
00:02:19
Increasingly, we see a two-track pandemic. Many
countries still face an extremely dangerous situation, while some of those with
the highest vaccination rates are starting to talk about ending restrictions.
In countries with the greatest access to vaccines, we’re seeing a decline in
mortality among older age groups. In these countries, the public health and
social measures that have helped to protect people are being eased, but they
must be eased cautiously and adjusted in line with viral circulation and
response capacities.
With the increased global transmission of
variants of concern, including the Delta variant, lifting restrictions too
quickly could be disastrous for those who are not vaccinated. But many
countries don’t have that option because they don’t have enough vaccines. In
these countries, the continued use of tailored public health measures is the
best way to supress transmission. The inequitable distribution of vaccines has
allowed the virus to continue spreading, increasing the chances of a variant
emerging that renders vaccines less effective.
Six months since the first vaccines were
administered, high-income countries have administered almost 44% of the world’s
doses. Low-income countries have administered just 0.4%. The most frustrating
thing about this statistic is that it hasn’t changed in months. Inequitable
vaccination is a threat to all nations, not just those with the fewest vaccines.
Several countries have made significant pledges to share doses lately.
00:04:33
We’re grateful to those countries, and we look
forward to those pledges being fulfilled in June and July. At the World Health
Assembly, I called for a massive global effort to vaccinate at least 10% of the
population of all countries by September and at least 30% by the end of the
year. To reach these targets, we need an additional 250 million doses by
September, and we need 100 million doses just in June and July. This weekend,
the leaders of G7 countries will meet for their annual summit. These seven
nations have the power to meet these targets.
I’m calling on the G7 not just to commit to
sharing doses, but to commit to sharing them in June and July. I also call on
all manufacturers to give COVAX first right of refusal on new volumes of
vaccines or to commit 50% of their volumes to COVAX this year. COVAX is the
best way to distribute vaccines quickly and equitably. Sharing vaccines now is
essential for ending the acute phase of the pandemic, but it’s also clear that,
in an emergency, low-income countries cannot rely solely on imports of vaccines
from wealthier nations.
Investing in local production is critical for
COVID vaccines and for producing routine immunisations and other health
products. Two months ago, the African Union launched the Partnership for
African Vaccine Manufacturing, and several countries are making progress. I
hope that some manufacturing sites will be identified and at least close to
producing vaccines by the end of this year. Boosting manufacturing does not
happen overnight, but the sooner we invest, the sooner production can start.
00:06:53
At the World Health Assembly, Member States
adapted the resolution, asking WHO to further support countries to scale up
local production. WHO will support countries to help identify bottlenecks,
provide solutions and develop production acceleration plans. Two months ago,
WHO also issued a call for expressions of interest to establish an MRNA
technology transfer hub to facilitate increased global production of MRNA
vaccines.
We have received expressions of interest from a
number of companies interested in transferring their technology and from a
number of countries wanting to receive the technology and set up production
plants. We’re conducting a technical review, and we’ll soon engage in
discussion with Member States and partners to start implementation.
We continue to call on companies with MRNA
technology to share it through the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool. The result
can be a win-win for both the owner of the knowhow as well as for public
health. The biggest barrier to ending the pandemic remains sharing, of doses,
of resources, of technology. This week marks 40 years since the first cases of
AIDS were documented by scientists. Four decades later, HIV can be treated, but
there is still no vaccine and no cure.
Just 18 months after COVID-19 first emerged, we
have many effective tools to prevent, detect and treat it. As for HIV, the real
test is not developing the tools. It’s using them where they are needed most.
Tarik, back to you.
00:09:00
TJ Thank
you very much, Dr Tedros. We will now open the floor for questions. I will
remind journalists that you can ask questions in one of six UN languages and
also in Portuguese and Hindi, and if you want to ask a question, please click
on the Raise the Hand icon. Also, please make sure that you ask only one
question so that we can get as many as we can in one hour that we have. So, we
will start with ABC, and we have Terry Moran online. Terry, unmute yourself.
TM Yes,
thank you very much. This is a question for Dr Tedros. What can the World
Health Organization do, Dr Tedros, to compel China to open up the full records
of what happened in the Wuhan Institute of Virology so that the investigation
can be completed? What can the World Health Organization do to compel China to
come clean about what happened in Wuhan? And if the World Health Organization
cannot persuade China to be open and transparent, who can?
MR Thank
you for the question. I may just remind you that WHO doesn’t have the power to
compel anyone in this regard or in other regards, and in that sense, WHO
doesn’t have the power to investigate or enter countries without the express
permission and cooperation of that country. That is the basis, on which the
organisation is established and its constitution. It’s a Member State
organisation, and in that sense, 194 Member States agree on the rules. So, from
that perspective, WHO has no powers to compel.
00:10:53
What we do is, we work through cooperation, we
work through consensus, and that has worked extremely well for WHO in polio
eradication, in smallpox eradication, in dealing with multiple, multiple
outbreaks and emergencies that occur every year. We get remarkable cooperation
from vast majority of countries in engaging in outbreak investigations and
outbreak response and emergency response. We will continue to work with all
parties, especially in the case of COVID origins.
It is very, very important that the world
understand what the origins of SARS-CoV-2 was. It is important for now. It’s
important for the future, in terms of, preventing further pandemics. It is not
always easy to determine that. From many, many other diseases, it has taken
years of study in order to be able to even understand the basics of that. So, it
is not an easy task, and we will continue, in the second phase, to propose the
necessary studies to take our understanding and knowledge to the next level.
We fully expect the cooperation and input and
support of all of our Member States in that endeavour. So, just to remind you
again, WHO does not have the power to compel any Member State. We work through
cooperation. We work through consensus, and that has worked for us and for our Member
States for 70 years.
TJ Thank
you very much, Dr Ryan. We’ll go to next question. That’s Marcus Dobyesin [?] from
VG Newspaper from Norway. Marcus, unmute yourself.
00:12:41
MD Thank
you. Good afternoon. Our newspaper recently put out a story detailing how middlemen
located in the United Arab Emirates is selling Sputnik vaccines to, amongst
others, Guyana, Ghana and Pakistan at $19 to $22.5 per dose. That’s around
double what the Russians are charging in direct deals. The Ministry of Finance
of Ghana and the Vice President of Guyana explains the decision to buy at such
a steep mark-up with finding themselves in a situation where they weren’t able
to find any other way to procure enough vaccines.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta goes on to say,
and I quote, you are confronted with the good guys from the West not giving you
any assurance of supply, and you have 30 million people to save the lives of.
TJ Can
we get a question, Marcus, please? Can we just get to the question?
MD Yes,
this is the question. I was asking, what is the WHO’s reaction to middlemen
profiting from a lack of vaccines that is caused by uneven distribution?
TJ Thank
you very much. We will start with Dr Simao.
MS Let
me start and maybe colleagues can complement. First of all, let me say, Marcus,
that first, the advice of WHO is that countries use vaccines that have received
emergency use listing by WHO, which are now eight vaccines. Second, we have
received concerns from countries, not only, you’re citing the Gamaleya vaccine
right now, the Sputnik, but we have received similar concerns regarding other
vaccines with intermediates selling it at a much higher price than what it’s
being actually sold by the manufacturers.
00:14:34
Two things to be aware of. First of all is that
the vast majority of manufacturers are selling only to public entities or to
international procurers, which is, in this case, of the COVID vaccines, is
COVAX, and to the procurement agencies, UNICEF and PAHO. The other thing to be
taking into account, so what we have advised back to countries is to contact
the manufacturer to make sure that the intermediate is legal, because there is
also the other side of this, because there is a lot of substandard and
falsified COVID products being commercialised out there.
So, you need to know the providence. Where is
the precedence? Where is this product coming from? Who is selling? And where
did it register? And has it been listed by WHO? So, there are several things
that need to be taken into account into this. During the last World Health
Assembly, now that ended last week, we did have a long discussion on
substandard and falsified medicines and vaccines circulated in the market.
And internet sales are the way that these
procurers reach out to either individuals or governments. So, our advice is,
check with the manufacturer, check the legality of the transaction, and then
you make an informed decision. And please make sure that you’re buying vaccines
that are certified by WHO. Thank you.
TJ Thank
you very much, Dr Simao for this important message. We will now go to Jamil
Chade from Geneva press corps covering Brazil. Jamil, unmute yourself, please.
00:16:29
JS Thank
you, Tarik. Can you hear me?
TJ Yes,
very well.
JS Yes.
This is a question to Dr Tedros. As you pointed out, the world lives in a
double track in this pandemic. The situation in Brazil is not a comfortable one
at all, but at the same time, the country decided to host Copa America, one of
the largest tournaments, obviously, without public. But in your opinion, and I
know WHO cannot tell the government what to do, an event to happen or not to
happen, but in face of all that is happening in Brazil, is it a good idea to
have an extra event, and a football event, in the country? Thank you so much.
MR Thank
you for the question, and, yes, you are correct, WHO is not in a position to
make decisions like this on behalf of host countries or organising committees.
We provide risk assessment advice to all mass gatherings who request that,
including religious gatherings and sports gatherings. Certainly, the large
international sporting events are complex. They require a great deal of
planning. They require a lot of risk assessment and a lot of risk management,
understanding that risk can rarely be reduced to zero.
But getting risk to as close as possible to zero
requires a very methodical, very well-planned and very well-implemented set of
risk management measures.
00:18:10
So, we would advise that any country undertaking
such a mass gathering, especially in the context of community transmission, be
extremely careful about ensuring that they have the proper risk management in
place. And if that risk management cannot be guaranteed, then certainly,
countries should reconsider their decisions to host or run any mass gathering
if they adequate risk management is not in place.
If a mass gathering event, because of a lack of
risk management, has a potential for further exacerbating spread, then,
obviously, countries need to take that into account. But again, it is the
decision of a sovereign state. It is the decision of organising committees to
make decisions in order to proceed. But we would, obviously, ask that all
parties involved in organising mass gatherings ensure that they have adequate
risk management in place to avoid such events becoming, themselves, problematic
in terms of disease transmission.
TJ Thank
you very much, Dr Ryan. We will go to the next question, Robin Millar [?] from
Agence France-Presse. Robin?
RM Yes,
thank you. The Delta variant is now dominant in the United Kingdom, and the
authorities there recognise that it’s 40% more transmissible than the Alpha
variant, which was the previous dominant variant. How can the UK Government
determine whether or not it’s right to go ahead with lifting all the remaining
restrictions, as they’re considering doing on June 21st? Thank you.
MVK Thanks
for the question. I’ll begin. So, you’re reporting… Again, the question is
similar to the previous questions that Dr Ryan has answered, in terms of,
taking a risk-based approach.
00:20:03
The Delta variant is indeed more transmissible
than the Alpha variant, and it is spreading in the UK. It’s spreading in more
than 60 countries right now around the world. As the virus spreads, the more
variants will be detected, and we are seeing these worrying trends of increased
transmissibility, increased social mixing, relaxing of public health and social
measures, and uneven and inequitable vaccine distribution around the world.
Those four factors are a really dangerous
combination around the world, and so, when countries are taking, when leaders
are taking, decisions about adjusting measures, they need to take into account
many of these factors. The virus that is circulating, the amount of virus that
is circulating, the capacities to be able to respond, which include the
surveillance systems that are in place. The ability to rapidly detect cases,
provide clinical care for cases, isolate cases so that they don’t have the
possibility to spread to others, to carry out contact tracing. To ensure that
people who are in quarantine are supported, are able to do so, so that they, if
they are infected, do not pass the virus to others.
It’s the same combination of interventions that
are required. It’s just, as measures are adjusted, countries need to be at the
ready. A constant state of readiness right now around the world is what we
need. No matter where you are, in every country, every country really needs to
remain ready to detect because, as you’ve heard the Director-General say, no
one is safe until everyone is safe. And virus variants are circulating.
00:21:43
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, whether it’s a variant of
concern or not, is a dangerous virus. It can spread between people if we allow it
to. So, as vaccination is rolling out around the world, it will take time to
reach all of those who are in need, and we are very grateful for the donations
that are coming in for COVAX to be distributed evenly and equitably. We do need
decisions that are made to be done based on data. They need to be adjusted
carefully, slowly and gradually.
And we do need the public to remain at the ready
as well, because as measures are adjusted, we may take two steps forward, we
may take one step back, but we need to be, still, patient as we sort this out.
As we bring COVID under control around the world, all of us need to be patient
as we work through this. So, we advise the same. Take a controlled way in
looking at the adjustment of the measures. Take into consideration the
circulation, the variants that are circulating, the capacities to respond, the
engagement of communities, and step by step.
TJ Thank
you very much, Dr Van Kerkhove. We will now move to our next question. That’s
Isobel Sarkov [?] from FA News Agency. Isobel, please unmute.
IS Yes,
good afternoon. Thank you, Tarik. My question is on Chile. Two days ago, Chile
had 9,000 new cases of COVID-19, which was the second highest number since the
beginning of the pandemic.
00:23:27
And the situation in the health system is very
worrying with 95% of occupancy in the ICU system. So, as you know, they have a
very high rate of vaccinations, 55% of eligible population with both doses, 74
with one dose. So, my question is, first, why is this happening in Chile? Is it
anything to do with the fact that most vaccines used have been SinoVac vaccine?
Is there any reason to fear about the effectiveness of this vaccine? And what
is the risk that this happens in other countries with high rates of
vaccinations that are opening their activities and trying to get, again, into
the normal life? Thank you very much.
TJ Thank
you very much, Isobel. I understand there are several questions. One of them is
effectiveness of vaccines and the situation in Chile. Dr Van Kerkhove?
MVK Yes,
so I’ll start, and others will come in on this. The first thing I want to say
is, Chile is facing a challenging situation, as are many countries in South
America, and we, and the world, remain in solidarity with countries that are
facing challenging situations. And I think all of us need to really make sure
that even if the pandemic feels like it’s over for some of us, it’s not over
for the world. What we do need to take into account for Chile and for all
countries is that vaccines and vaccination is one part of the solution.
So, this is an incredibly powerful tool that
we’ve added to our repertoire of being able to deal with this pandemic, but the
other measures need to be carried out as well.
00:25:20
So, as vaccines are rolled out, they’re normally
rolled out in a phased approach, starting with those who are most at risk,
those who are most vulnerable, and then working through different parts of the
population, depending on the national vaccination strategy plans that are
developed by all countries. But we also need to take into account the other
measures that can prevent infections, that can reduce the spread of those who
are infected, make sure that they don’t develop a severe disease and die.
And we have a lot of those tools at hand. So, we
have to stay that course in that comprehensive approach of reducing the spread.
This involves individual level measures. It’s the hand hygiene. It’s the
wearing of the masks, respiratory etiquette, making sure that we spend more
time outdoors than indoors, make sure that improve good airflow, making sure
that our communities are engaged so that we, as individuals, know what our risk
is throughout our day, and we take measures to lower that risk.
So, all of that needs to remain at hand as
vaccinations are rolled out, and it will take time for vaccines to have the
impact that we expect, first to reduce morbidity and mortality and then to have
an impact on reducing transmission, but that will take some time.
SS Yes,
just to add to what Maria was saying, and this is very important for countries as
they are rolling out vaccination programmes, we know that, to have a high level
of protection, you need two doses of the vaccine given at whatever interval is
recommended for each of the vaccines.
00:26:59
And it takes two weeks after the second dose to
really get that immunity built up. And then you need a large number of people
in the population vaccinated in order to start building up those levels of herd
immunity or population immunity, at which point, you start seeing substantial
reductions in transmission.
So, the first things you should start seeing
really, as you start protecting the elderly and the ones with comorbidity and
healthcare workers in a country that starts vaccination programmes is to start
seeing reduction in deaths before you start seeing reductions in cases. In
fact, you might still have cases occurring among the younger groups, among the
unvaccinated, but if deaths are not going up, then that’s a good sign because
it shows that you’ve protected the most at-risk groups.
The second thing we have to be aware of is that
while these vaccines do reduce the chances of infection, they are not 100%. And
so, even if you’ve had two vaccines and you are protected from getting severe
disease and ending up in the hospital, you might not be protected from getting
the infection and passing it on to others. And there is a tendency, or there’s
a natural tendency for people to think, once they’ve had the vaccine, that they
are protected. And there is a tendency to drop your guard and to stop taking
all the measures like the mask wearing and the distancing that one would have
done otherwise.
So, maybe this is just, sort of, a wakeup to
those populations and countries where vaccination rates are going up but still
haven’t reached the point where people can actually drop their guard and so on.
00:28:43
And as Maria was saying earlier, for every
country, regardless of how high the vaccination coverage, the introduction of
variants, which some of them are not only more transmissible but can evade the
immune protection that’s elicited by vaccines and could result in infections,
even in those people who are vaccinated.
Again, potentially, even if there’s infection,
hopefully doesn’t result in severe disease, but it means a transmission can
continue in the community. So, it’s really important for the public health
agencies to keep track of all of these indicators that Maria mentioned and for
people to remain careful for some time to come. Thank you.
TJ Thank
you very much, Dr Swaminathan and Dr Van Kerkhove. We will now move to next
question, and it’s Sophia Mokwena from South Africa Broadcasting Corporation.
Sophia, if you can hear us, please unmute yourself.
SM Yes.
I just want to ask a question around access to vaccines. Dr Tedros has
indicated or given stats, in terms of access to vaccines to low-income
countries and the high-income countries. The low-income countries are reliant
on AstraZeneca, and they were hoping Johnson & Johnson will assist, in
terms of availing doses, but the US Food and Drug Administration has put a stop
to rolling out Johnson & Johnson. Have you, perhaps, received any update,
in terms of when are they going to lift this suspension?
00:30:31
Because poorer countries were really, really
hoping that Johnson & Johnson will be available for countries such as South
Africa, and now we are left with Pfizer only. We can’t even use AstraZeneca.
MS So,
thank you, Sophia. Let me start and then my colleagues can complement. First of
all, let me say that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has received an
emergency use listing by WHO, so South Africa does not depend on the FDA
approval to use it. And South Africa, I believe, has the emergency use
authorisation for the J&J. In the sense, on the AstraZeneca, we know that
the FDA is not assessing the dosage because they do have lots of other vaccines
available in the US.
But just to the comment that J&J has, both
of them, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, have received authorisation by
WHO and are being used in COVAX and also in different countries worldwide. I
don't know if Bruce wants to…
BA Thank
you, Mariangela and thank you, Sophia. The big challenge that we’re having and
the question you asked reflects that bigger issue of just the global supply of
vaccines. Right now, the majority of vaccines in the world are made by either
SinoVac or Sinopharm or Pfizer or AstraZeneca or Moderna. Those are the big
producers right now, in terms of, absolute volumes. And most of the big
producers are producing in multiple sites as well.
00:32:19
So, there may be a restriction on one place or
another, Sophie, but the big problem that we still have routes back to what we
talked about earlier, and that is the fact that most of the vaccine is
contracted either by high-income countries right now, or it is being reserved
for the countries producing the vaccines themselves.
And that’s the reason our big appeal, going into
the Global Health Summit that the G20 countries held, and now, again, going
into the G7 Summit, which is coming up this weekend, is for the sharing of
those doses that have been contracted with COVAX so that we can get more doses
of AstraZeneca, of the Pfizer vaccine and other vaccines that have had WHO EUL
out as rapidly as possible. Because almost every company is still having
challenges with some of their supply and production issues, and that’s the
reason that we still have shortage and we still need to be working across all
countries to optimise the supply.
That’s what’s behind the advocacy. It’s behind
what the Director-General called for in his remarks today, and that is for the
sharing of a quarter of a billion doses, 250 million at least, to help vaccinate
people in low-income countries during this crucial period, June, July, August,
September.
JT Thank
you very much, Dr Aylward as well as Dr Simao. We will now go to the next
question. That’s Latika Bourke from Sydney Morning Herald. Latika, please go
ahead.
00:34:01
LB Thank
you. Thanks a lot. A question for the panel. How long are the zero-COVID
strategies that some countries are pursuing viable for, given the draconian
measures that they require and that vaccines are now being rolled out? Is there
a threshold or a test that the WHO recommends for when those settings could be
changed, ie, a herd immunity threshold, or even more simply, when everyone has
been offered the jab?
JT Latika,
could you, please, speak slowly and repeat the question? I’m not sure we
understood properly.
LB Okay,
sure. Sorry about that. So, the question is, how long are the zero-COVID
strategies that some countries are pursuing viable for, in WHO’s opinion,
given, obviously, all the other measures and lockdowns and restrictions that
they require and that vaccines are being rolled out? So, does WHO have a
recommended threshold or a test for these countries as to when those settings
could change, ie, herd immunity, or even when everyone in that country has been
offered a vaccine?
MVK I
could start. So, thank you for the question. So, several countries are adopting
different strategies for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our strategy that
we outlined last year is about suppression of transmission, about saving lives
and saving livelihoods, and this remains the main focus of our strategy, ending
the acute phase of the pandemic, controlling COVID so that societies can open
up, livelihoods could get back online.
The strategies and the way that countries
actually implement that depend on a combination of factors. And some countries
that are island states may be able to approach a more stringent approach in
terms of getting that zero-COVID.
00:35:53
But really what we want to do is control
transmission, bring transmission down to such a low level that it can be
managed by the surveillance that’s in place, that vaccination can be rolled out
to protect individuals so that we do not see morbidity, we do not see mortality
associated with this particular virus. And that is within our reach with the vaccinations
that we have at hand, with the vaccines that are available, even to date, if
those are used appropriately.
And the way that countries will adjust their
measures, adjust their strategies, depends. Many are using a phased approach,
in terms of when they reach a certain level of threshold of a test positivity
or if they look at ICU capacity or hospital capacity. If they look at, if they
want to reach zero cases or moving from community transmission to clusters of
transmission, from clusters of transmission to sporadic transmission, from
sporadic transmission to no transmission, that’s always been the goal of taking
a stepwise approach to supressing this spread of this virus, to preventing
infections, to preventing morbidity and mortality.
So, the adjustment of that and the changes of
the strategy depend on that combination of factors, the surveillance that’s in
place, the capacities at hand, the access to vaccine and vaccination. And those
will be adjusted accordingly.
MR If
I could just supplement, because I think it is a genuine dilemma for countries
who’ve worked so hard to keep their virus transmission low, to keep their death
rates low. They have protected their populations.
00:37:28
Their communities have committed within their
borders to a massive effort to protect their system, to protect their elderly
or older and vulnerable populations, but always being at risk of the disease
being reimported and sparking a major epidemic.
And we’ve said it, as long as the majority of
your population remains susceptible to infection, there’s always a chance of
the disease taking hold. And we’ve seen that happen in a number of
low-incidence countries. And it is tough for countries to continue to keep low
incidence in the context of so much community transmission in other countries.
That is a very tough thing.
So, it is a difficult decision now for many
countries who’ve managed to keep a very low-, or zero-COVID strategy in place
for so long, to open up again with the possibilities and, in fact, the
probability that disease may be reimported from other countries, in which the
disease is not under control. And in that situation, countries will have to
maintain a very, very highly alert surveillance system, have a very switched on
population and will need to increase their vaccination levels.
At the end of the day, high levels of
vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic, and right now, it’s not
100% clear from the data where the figure for vaccination coverage should be in
order to fully affect transmission. But I’m looking at my colleague Soumya.
It’s certainly north of 80% coverage to be in a position where you could be
significantly affecting the risk of an imported case, potentially generating
secondary cases or causing a cluster or an outbreak.
00:39:15
So, it does require quite high levels of
vaccination, particularly in the context of more transmissible variants, to be
on the safe side. So, countries with very low incidence, with zero-COVID or
with low COVID situations are going to have to, like every other country. And
there is this sense that countries with very high incidence need the vaccine
most urgently. Well, in one sense, they do need the vaccine most urgently
because they have a disease that’s pretty much out of control.
But those countries who’ve put the effort in and
who have really focused on keeping COVID at the lowest level, who have
protected their population, they also need the vaccine as well because they’ve
managed to protect their populations, and now they have a very susceptible
population, and they have equal right. And this is what the DG speaks about
equity. It’s about ensuring that everyone is equally at risk in this. And it’s
not just related to the number of cases you have. It’s related to the absolute
risk to your population.
And there are many situations where countries
have kept disease at very low level, and because of that success, have highly
susceptible populations, and therefore, they need vaccination just as much as
countries who have higher incidence.
TJ Thank
you very much, Dr Ryan, Dr Van Kerkhove. Now we’ll go and hear from our friend
Simon Ateba who will introduce himself. Simon, please go ahead.
SA Thank
you for taking my question. This is Simon Ateba with Today News Africa in
Washington DC.
00:40:50
The Biden Administration announced last week
that it was sending the first batch of 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to
African nations under the WHO initiative COVAX to be shared by the African
Union/Africa CDC. I would like to get an update from you. How many doses have
been received so far? How far can 5 million doses go or last, and has the WHO
given some guidelines to the Africa CDC on how to share those vaccines evenly
and equitably across the continent? Thank you.
TJ Thank
you very much, Simon. Dr Aylward?
BA Hi,
Simon. Thank you very much for the question, and it’s an opportunity just to
recognise and thank the United States’ people in government for its commitment
to share doses and for kicking off the dose sharing at such substantial
numbers. I think, as most of you will have seen, last week, President Biden
announced that they will be contributing 80 million doses to the vaccination of
people in other countries in the month of June with 75% of that going through
COVAX.
And the plan for the initial 25 million was
released last week at the same time, and we’re grateful for that. That’s a
great start and great leadership in highlighting the importance of sharing
doses and doing that rapidly. And as you highlighted, Simon, a proportion of
those doses will go to the African Continent. So, we’re still working out with
the US Government for the release of the vaccines through COVAX, and that work
is ongoing to move them as quickly and expeditiously as possible.
00:42:45
In terms of how far 5 million doses can go, it
can go very far when it comes to protecting, especially healthcare workers and
highest-risk populations. And also, very, very important to help countries
initiate vaccination in some places and start the scale-up of vaccination. So,
every dose counts. Every dose is helpful. And clearly, in settings where the
number of doses shared so far, and in the African Union, if I remember
correctly, the number of doses that have gone there through COVAX is about 25
million, so this would be about another 20% on top of that, and that would be
an important contribution. Although still, like you highlight, many more
needed.
In terms of, the guidance given, we work closely
with Africa CDC, and in general, we’re all working to that same guidance, of
course, that, number one, we’re trying to prioritise healthcare workers, trying
to prioritise older populations. And as we look at donations, we try and look
at what does coverage look like across countries already, what is the
absorptive capacity of the different countries, in terms of how they’re able to
absorb and use doses, and also what’s the situation they’re facing, in terms of
that risk.
So, with the donations, we look at our standard
allocation criteria, and then we have a little bit of flexibility to also look
at how to put them to best possible use. And so, that’s a general guidance that
we use, Simon, across all countries and that we continue to work with,
irrespective of whether it’s within Africa or other parts of the world.
00:44:29
JT Thank
you very much, Dr Aylward. We will conclude this press briefing with this
question and this answer. As always, we will send you audio file from the
briefing soon after, and a transcript will be available tomorrow. And I will
now hand over to Dr Tedros for his last message.
TAG Yes,
thank you, Tarik, and thank you to all who have joined today. And see you in
our upcoming pressers. Thank you.