On Monday, the head of the World Health Organization denounced vaccine diplomacy, which he views as “geopolitical maneuvering”, which only delays the end of the epidemic.
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During his bi-weekly press conference, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also warned against any complacency in areas where the health situation is improving, but he remains “on a plateau at an unacceptable level.”
When asked about the practices of certain countries such as China or Russia that allow access to their Covid vaccines to countries that do not have them, the Director-General said, “The only option we have to put an end to this epidemic is cooperation.” Of them or they will have a hard time getting it, but with their counterparts.
“Vaccine diplomacy is not cooperation, it is a geopolitical maneuver,” he accused.
We cannot beat this virus by competing with each other. If we are competing for resources or geopolitical advantage, he insisted, it is the virus that benefits.
He warned that “if there is a confrontation, it is worse,” noting that last year “confrontation undermined” the strategy to combat the disease, in a sign that seems to clearly refer to the Trump administration.
Regardless of global cooperation and solidarity, there is no salvation, “and for this we must classify the virus as the common enemy.”
Dr Tedros noted that, in the past week alone, the epidemic killed nearly 90,000 people and infected about 5.4 million people. The numbers are largely due to the outbreak in India.
But even in countries where the situation is improving, such as Europe and the United States, and despite vaccination campaigns that have already made it possible to immunize a good proportion of the population, we must remain vigilant.
“We really tried that,” he recalls, a better warning.
“Over the past year, many countries have seen a decrease in the number of cases and relaxed public health measures very quickly, people let their guard down and the result is that all the costly progress has been made. It has evaporated,” he said. General Director.
