WHO chief calls for solidarity in financing, ensuring equal access to future COVID-19 vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that six months after first sounding the international alarm over COVID-19, the UN agency is now intensely focused on shepherding global vaccine candidates through the necessary trials, and guaranteeing rapid, fair and equitable access to them for all countries.

With the ripple effects of the pandemic upending people’s lives, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that to move forward, “the best bet is to do it together”, as he briefed reporters from Geneva on the latest developments.

Among them, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, launched in April, has shown results, Tedros said, with nine vaccine candidates in the COVAX portfolio now advancing through Phase 2 or 3 trials.

The portfolio, already the broadest in the world, is expanding, he added. Countries representing 70 percent of the global population have registered or expressed interest in being part of the initiative.

In terms of therapeutics, he said the first proven therapy for severe COVID-19, dexamethasone, was announced in June and is now scaling up. More than 50 tests are in evaluation and new evidence has been generated around rapid antigen detection tests that could be “game-changing”.

Stressing that the ACT Accelerator is the only global framework for ensuring the fair and equitable allocation of COVID-19 tools, he said that to succeed, it must be properly financed.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates the pandemic is costing $375 billion a month and predicts a $12 trillion cumulative loss to the global economy over two years. The G-20 group of leading economies alone has mobilized more than $10 trillion in fiscal stimulus, to treat and mitigate the consequences of the pandemic – three and a half times what the world dispensed to address the global financial crisis of 2008.

By contrast, funding the ACT Accelerator will cost a “tiny fraction” compared to the alternative, where economies retract further and require continued fiscal stimulus packages, Tedros said.

Before spending another $10 trillion on the consequences of the next wave, he said the world will need to spend at least $100 billion on new tools, especially any new vaccines that are developed.

The most immediate need is $31.3 billion for the ACT Accelerator – the only up-and-running initiative that brings together all the global research and development, manufacturing, regulatory stipulations, purchasing, and procurement needed, to end the pandemic.

To be sure, the development of vaccines is long, complex, risky, and expensive, Tedros said, noting that the vast majority fail in the early stages. The world needs multiple vaccine candidates to maximize the chances of finding a winner that works.

Excess demand and competition for supply is already accelerating “vaccine nationalism” and risk of price gauging, he said: the kind of market failure that only global solidarity, public investment, and engagement can solve.

The ACT Accelerator funding gap cannot be covered by traditional development assistance alone, he said. The best solution is a blend of development assistance and financing from stimulus packages. It is the fastest way to end the pandemic and ensure swift global recovery.

Original source: UN News