UN / COVID-19 VACCINES ACCESS
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STORY: UN / COVID-19 VACCINES ACCESS
TRT: 4:32
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 FEBRUARY 2021, NEW YORK CITY
FILE
1. Exterior shot, UN flag with UN Secretariat in back
17 FEBRUARY 2021, NEW YORK CITY
2. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“COVID-19 continues its merciless march across the world -- upending lives, destroying economies and undermining the Sustainable Development Goals. And the pandemic is exacerbating all the factors that drive instability -- hindering our efforts to implement Security Council resolution 2532 for the cessation of hostilities, for conflict prevention and resolution. Defeating COVID-19, now that we have begun to have the scientific capacity to do so, is more important than ever.”
4. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is generating hope. But at this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community. We must ensure that everybody, everywhere, can be vaccinated as soon as possible. Yet progress on vaccinations has been wildly uneven and unfair.”
6. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“If the virus is allowed to spread like wildfire in the Global South, it will mutate again and again. New variants could become more transmissible, more deadly and, potentially, threaten the effectiveness of current vaccines and diagnostics. This can prolong the pandemic significantly, enabling the virus to come back to plague the Global North. And it will also delay the world economic recovery.”
8. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“The world urgently needs a Global Vaccination Plan to bring together all those with the required power, scientific expertise and production and financial capacities. I believe the G20 is well placed to establish an Emergency Task Force to prepare such a Global Vaccination Plan and coordinate its implementation and financing. This task force should include all countries in which there is a capacity to develop vaccines or to produce them if licenses are available, together with the WHO, GAVI, other relevant technical organizations and the international financial institutions.”
10. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund:
"For UNICEF and our many humanitarian partners around the world, COVID-19 has fundamentally altered our responses, adding a new layer of complexity in some of the most difficult and dangerous operating environments anywhere.”
12. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund:
“The violent and protracted nature of today’s armed conflicts has shattered countries’ health systems…damaged or destroyed vital infrastructure like water and sanitation…and spurred a flight of badly needed health workers. In this context, vaccine-delivery is also hampered by a funding gap for humanitarian support overall and by a lack of transportation, cold chains, and logistical infrastructure to support the rollout.”
14. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer of Gavi:
“Science tells us there is no way out of this pandemic alone. We have to do it together or face generational consequences. Our ask to the Security Council as they advocate for and invest in this unprecedented effort that they call on all nations to ensure the unhindered deployment of vaccines in all settings, including those affected by conflict and into the arms of all high risk individuals refugees or citizens.”
16. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies:
“Just as we need to ensure that all countries can access vaccines, we also need to make sure that those vaccines reach the arms of all the people who need them. Underinsured, alienated or isolated communities, including those living in areas not under the control of states, as well as detainees, IDPs and refugees must be integrated in national vaccine efforts. Strong involvement of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, and other local impartial organizations in vaccination activity can help ensure that these last [inaudible] communities are not left behind.”
18. Multiscreen, virtual meeting od Security Council
“The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is generating hope,’ the UN Secretary-General told the Security Council, warning at the same time that “at this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community.”
Chaired by the UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, the UN Security Council today held an open debate themed “Ensuring the equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in contexts affected by conflict and insecurity”.
In his opening remarks, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “COVID-19 continues its merciless march across the world -- upending lives, destroying economies and undermining the Sustainable Development Goals. And the pandemic is exacerbating all the factors that drive instability -- hindering our efforts to implement Security Council resolution 2532 for the cessation of hostilities, for conflict prevention and resolution. Defeating COVID-19, now that we have begun to have the scientific capacity to do so, is more important than ever.”
In July 2020, the Security Council adopted resolution 2532 to support the Secretary-General’s global ceasefire appeal to fight the pandemic.
The Secretary-General also said “if the virus is allowed to spread like wildfire in the Global South, it will mutate again and again. New variants could become more transmissible, more deadly and, potentially, threaten the effectiveness of current vaccines and diagnostics. This can prolong the pandemic significantly, enabling the virus to come back to plague the Global North. And it will also delay the world economic recovery.”
Guterres warned that “if the virus is allowed to spread like wildfire in the Global South, it will mutate again and again,” which could lead to new variants becoming “more transmissible, more deadly and, potentially, threaten the effectiveness of current vaccines and diagnostics.”
“This can prolong the pandemic significantly, enabling the virus to come back to plague the Global North. And it will also delay the world economic recovery,” cautioned Guterres.
The Secretary-General called for the G20 “to establish an Emergency Task Force” to prepare and coordinate the implementation and financing of an “urgently” needed Global Vaccination Plan to bring together “all those with the required power, scientific expertise and production and financial capacities.”
The Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) Henrietta Fore, said "for UNICEF and our many humanitarian partners around the world, COVID-19 has fundamentally altered our responses, adding a new layer of complexity in some of the most difficult and dangerous operating environments anywhere.”
She also said that in the context of “the violent and protracted nature of today’s armed conflicts that shattered countries’ health system, damaged or destroyed vital infrastructure like water and sanitation,” vaccine-delivery is “also hampered by a funding gap for humanitarian support overall and by a lack of transportation, cold chains, and logistical infrastructure to support the rollout.”
Also speaking at the meeting of the Council, Dr. Seth Berkley, the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) asked the Council members “as they advocate for and invest in this unprecedented effort that they call on all nations to ensure the unhindered deployment of vaccines in all settings, including those affected by conflict and into the arms of all high risk individuals refugees or citizens.”
For his part, Jagan Chapagain, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said “just as we need to ensure that all countries can access vaccines, we also need to make sure that those vaccines reach the arms of all the people who need them. Underinsured, alienated or isolated communities, including those living in areas not under the control of states, as well as detainees, IDPs and refugees must be integrated in national vaccine efforts.
“Strong involvement of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, and other local impartial organizations in vaccination activity can help ensure that these last [inaudible] communities are not left behind,” he said.
The Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) Henrietta Fore, said "for UNICEF and our many humanitarian partners around the world, COVID-19 has fundamentally altered our responses, adding a new layer of complexity in some of the most difficult and dangerous operating environments anywhere.”