Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / COVID-19 ACT ACCELERATOR
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / COVID-19 ACT ACCELERATOR
TRT: 3:49
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN Headquarters exterior
30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“It is in every country’s national and economic self-interest to work together to massively expand access to tests and treatments, and to support a vaccine as a global public good -- a “people’s vaccine” available and affordable for everyone, everywhere. The ACT-Accelerator -- with its COVAX Facility -- is the vehicle to get us there.”
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
3. Wide shot, UN Headquarters exterior
30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We need to think bigger. It is time for countries to draw funding from their own response and recovery programmes. By helping others, they will help themselves. Investing in the ACT-Accelerator will accelerate every country’s own recovery. The pandemic is costing the global economy $375 billion a month and 500 million jobs since the crisis erupted. The developed world has devoted many trillions of dollars to respond to the socio-economic impacts of the crisis in their own countries. Surely, we can invest a small fraction of that to stop the spread of the disease everywhere.”
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
5. Med shot, #UNGA outside UN headquarters
30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
"Fully financing the ACT - Accelerator will help to control the pandemic, restore confidence, and stimulate the global recovery. Frankly this is not a financial challenge, it's a test of solidarity. This is a moment of saying no to nationalism and yes to our shared humanity. Because ultimately, the ACT - Accelerator is not delivering merely vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. It's delivering something far more important: hope. Let's act now; let's act together to stop this pandemic."
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
7. Wide shot, UN Headquarters exterior
30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Gates, Co-founder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:
"The only way to eliminate the threat of this disease somewhere is to eliminate it everywhere. The solution is not shaming the rich countries that are doing the natural thing of wanting to protect their people. The solution is to vastly increase the manufacturing capacity so we can cover everyone as soon as possible."
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
9. Wide shot, UN Headquarters exterior
30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) David Malpass, President, World Bank Group:
“I'm pleased to announce that I've proposed to our board to make available up to 12 billion USD of fast track financing to countries for the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines once the vaccines have been approved by several highly respected, stringent regulatory agencies. This additional financing will be to low and middle-income developing countries that don't have adequate access and will help them alter the course of the pandemic for their people."
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
11. Wide shot, UN Headquarters exterior
30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
12. SOUNDBITE (German) Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Federal Republic of Germany:
"This is why I would like to thank all those who have already engaged and committed themselves. All those who are still dithering, I call upon you to get involved, to commit yourselves. It's incredibly important because such a pandemic is something that happens fortunately very rarely. But it is time now for us to impress upon everyone that we can cope globally."
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
13. Wide shot, UN Headquarters exterior
30 SEPTEMBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister, Canada:
"We have a collective responsibility to make sure no one is left behind, which is why Canada is supporting the COVAX facility and advanced market commitment that will help ensure that vaccines are distributed quickly fairly around the world. Because Canada's recovery depends on a global recovery."
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
15. Wide shot, UN headquarters exterior
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it is in every “national and economic self-interest to work together to massively expand access to tests and treatments, and to support a vaccine as a global public good -- a “people’s vaccine” available and affordable for everyone, everywhere,” and noted that the ACT-Accelerator , with its COVAX Facility, “is the vehicle to get us there.”
Speaking at a high-level event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly today (30 Sep), Guterres said the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) – Accelerator and its COVAX Facility are prime examples of multilateralism in action for the global public good.
He said the ACT-Accelerator is the only global mechanism with the full spectrum of partners and tools to beat the pandemic -- with tests, treatments and the world’s largest portfolio of vaccines in the most advanced trial stages. It also provides the only safe and certain way to
re-open the global economy as quickly as possible, the UN chief added.
Guterres noted the three billion USD provided to start-up the ACT – Accelerator, but stressed the need to scale up and provide the addition 35 billion USD required to fund it.
He said, “We need to think bigger. It is time for countries to draw funding from their own response and recovery programmes. By helping others, they will help themselves. Investing in the ACT-Accelerator will accelerate every country’s own recovery. The pandemic is costing the global economy 375 billion USD a month and 500 million jobs since the crisis erupted. The developed world has devoted many trillions of dollars to respond to the socio-economic impacts of the crisis in their own countries. Surely, we can invest a small fraction of that to stop the spread of the disease everywhere.”
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus said yesterday marked a green milestone in the fight against COVID-19 with over one million deaths, adding that the real number is certainly higher. He said science is giving us solutions in the form of new tests, therapeutics, and hopefully a vaccine, but science and solution will be ineffective without solidarity.
Dr Tedros said the financing gap for the ACT- Accelerator, amounting to 35 billion USD, is less than one per cent of G20 governments' commitments to domestic recovery and roughly equivalent to what the world spends on cigarettes every two weeks.
He said, "Fully financing the ACT - Accelerator will help to control the pandemic, restore confidence, and stimulate the global recovery. Frankly this is not a financial challenge, it's a test of solidarity. This is a moment of saying no to nationalism and yes to our shared humanity. Because ultimately, the ACT - Accelerator is not delivering merely vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. It's delivering something far more important: hope. Let's act now; let's act together to stop this pandemic."
Co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates said the world is on the brink of a great scientific achievement, adding that several COVID-19 vaccine would likely be ready by early next year which will save millions of lives and allow the world to develop a plan to globally eliminate COVID-19.
Gates said doing this requires the capacity to produce, funding, and a system to deliver the vaccines. He said lower- and middle-income countries do not have the purchasing power of developed countries and risk not getting nearly enough doses despite being home half the world's population.
Gates said with a vaccine, COVID-19 would become a preventable disease and stressed that no one should die of a preventable disease just because their government cannot afford the vaccine.
He added, "The only way to eliminate the threat of this disease somewhere is to eliminate it everywhere. The solution is not shaming the rich countries that are doing the natural thing of wanting to protect their people. The solution is to vastly increase the manufacturing capacity so we can cover everyone as soon as possible."
Gates announced an agreement reached this morning with 16 pharmaceutical companies in which they committed to scaling up manufacturing and ensuring that approved vaccines are broadly distributed as early as possible. He underscored the importance of public financing adding that pharmaceutical companies also committed to using donation, foregoing profits, and using tiered pricing to make their products as affordable as possible.
Gates also noted that strengthening health systems to deliver the vaccine would also set up the world to lessen the effects of the next global pandemic.
World Bank President David Malpass said COVID-19 has resulted in the steepest economic contraction in 90 years and is projected to drive some 150 million people into extreme poverty by 2021, adding that the negative impacts of the pandemic may last decades.
Malpass stressed that the Bank was determined to help people gain access to the vaccine and announced his proposed to make up to 12 billion USD of “fast track financing to countries for the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines once the vaccines have been approved by several highly respected, stringent regulatory agencies.” He said, “This additional financing will be to low- and middle-income developing countries that don't have adequate access and will help them alter the course of the pandemic for their people."
Malpass noted that this vaccine financing is in addition to the fast track health financing the Bank announced in March and an important part of the World Bank Group's intention to make available 160 billion USD in grants and financial support over a 15 month period to help developing countries respond to the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country had already pledged 675 million Euros to the ACT-Accelerator and contributed 400 million Euros towards the European Union’s contribution. She announced a further 100 million Euros earmarked as special funds for GAVI dedicated to the fight against COVID-19, which she said would go into the COVAX advanced market commitment.
Merkel said the Federal Government is aware of Germany's responsibilities and has already earmarked funds for COVAX and necessary initiatives in the country’s budget debate for 2021.
Merkel said the international community has been successful in securing start-up money for the ACT- Accelerator, but more support is needed, and pledged to continue working to ensure that support is given to this global platform as much is at stake.
The German Chancellor thanked countries who have already engaged and said to “all those who are still dithering, I call upon you to get involved, to commit yourselves. It's incredibly important because such a pandemic is something that happens fortunately very rarely. But it is time now for us to impress upon everyone that we can cope globally."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at time when the world is relaunching its economies and paving the way for a recovery, it must work together to build a more resilient and fairer society. He added that to do this, all necessary tools for screening, testing, and treating COVID-19 must be offered and accessible to the most vulnerable.
Trudeau said, "We have a collective responsibility to make sure no one is left behind, which is why Canada is supporting the COVAX facility and advanced market commitment that will help ensure that vaccines are distributed quickly fairly around the world. Because Canada's recovery depends on a global recovery."
The Prime Minister announced that Canada is contributing 440 million dollars in additional funding to the COVAX Facility including, 220 million dollars more to the advanced market commitment to provide doses to the least developed countries around the world.
Over one billion USD in pledges in new financing for the ACT – Accelerator was committed today, including 732 million USD pledged by the United Kingdom and 10 million USD by Sweden.
The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. Launched at the end of April 2020, the ACT - Accelerator brings together governments, scientists, businesses, civil society, and philanthropists and global health organizations to speed up an end to the pandemic.
