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STORY: WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
TRT: 04:07
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 NOVEMBER 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
1. Wide shot, WHO officials at press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, WHO has emphasised the importance of testing, and provided the tools for countries to do it. On the 13th of January, in collaboration with the experts we work with, we published the first instructions for producing tests – just two weeks after the first cases were reported. Since then, we have shipped millions of tests and other diagnostic products all over the world."
3. Wide shot, WHO officials at press conference
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
"If you don’t know where the virus is, you can’t stop it. If you don’t know who has the virus, you can’t isolate them, care for them or trace their contacts. But testing must be strategic, in support of clear public health objectives. Everyone who needs a test should get a test. WHO’s guidance outlines how countries can test strategically based on their transmission scenario. It’s also important to remember that although testing is vital, it’s only part of the strategy."
5. Wide shot, WHO officials at press conference
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Kate O'Brien, Director, Department of Immunizations, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization (WHO):
"So, every country is going to have to work very hard and is going to have to innovate around systems to actually deliver vaccines that do have an ultra-cold chain. And part of the approach that many countries may take is to choose to use
vaccines that require an ultra-cold chain for only certain portions of the population that need to be vaccinated. For example, using that vaccine among healthcare workers, where facilities might be the place where immunization would take place and therefore installation of a minus 70 freezer would be more simple."
7. Wide shot, WHO officials at press conference
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Kate O'Brien, Director, Department of Immunizations, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization (WHO):
"So, I think the main message is that we do have technology. There is demonstrated experience of delivering ultra-cold chain vaccines, even in some of the most difficult and remote areas. But that has also taken enormous resources to do that. So, what we do need is we need a variety of vaccines that have different characteristics. And as you know, in the past several weeks there have been through press release the release of efficacy data on other vaccines that are either kept at minus 20 or at refrigerated temperatures, which will certainly ease the distribution and use of vaccines."
9. Wide shot, WHO officials at press conference
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
"I think it's highly speculative for us to say that the disease did not emerge in China. What we do know is the first clusters of human cases that were detected were in Wuhan in China, there was a massive response to contain that disease there, and we look forward to working with our Chinese colleagues, our Chinese scientific colleagues, to understand better the origins of the virus within China, or beyond China, wherever that leads."
11. Wide shot, WHO officials at press conference
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Kate O'Brien, Director, Department of Immunizations, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization (WHO):
"It's difficult to weigh in on this. I think what we can emphasize though, is that from what we understand about the press release, there is certainly something interesting that has been observed, but there are many reasons that could underlie the differences that were observed. And so, certainly more information is needed and that includes evaluations of the immune response in the trial as well. So, I think, it's too early for us to say anything about what we make of the data and what is needed next."
13. Wide shot, WHO officials at press conference
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, today (27 Nov) said that since the beginning of the pandemic, WHO has shipped “millions of tests and other diagnostic products all over the world."
Speaking at a virtual briefing in Geneva, Dr Tedros said, “WHO has emphasised the importance of testing, and provided the tools for countries to do it.”
The WHO official said, “if you don’t know where the virus is, you can’t stop it. If you don’t know who has the virus, you can’t isolate them, care for them or trace their contacts. But testing must be strategic, in support of clear public health objectives. Everyone who needs a test should get a test. WHO’s guidance outlines how countries can test strategically based on their transmission scenario. It’s also important to remember that although testing is vital, it’s only part of the strategy."
Also briefing from Geneva, WHO’s Director of the Department of Immunizations, Vaccines and Biologicals, Dr Kate O'Brien said, “there is demonstrated experience of delivering ultra-cold chain vaccines, even in some of the most difficult and remote areas. But that has also taken enormous resources to do that. So, what we do need is we need a variety of vaccines that have different characteristics.”
For his part, WHO’s Executive Director of its Health Emergencies Programme, said, “it's highly speculative for us to say that the disease did not emerge in China. What we do know is the first clusters of human cases that were detected were in Wuhan in China, there was a massive response to contain that disease there, and we look forward to working with our Chinese colleagues, our Chinese scientific colleagues, to understand better the origins of the virus within China, or beyond China, wherever that leads."
Nearly 61 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 1.4 million have died, according to a Reuters tally.
