UN hosting special commit around COVID-19 vaccines

On Thursday 3 and Friday 4 December, the United Nations is hosting a special summit on the possible efficient COVID-19 vaccines. By no surprise, the summit takes place on a virtual format and gathers 140 presidents, government and ministers of health. It is expected to hold discussions and expose updates on a collective strategy to counter the pandemic. Some pharmaceutical companies will also take part in the videoconference meetings.

Following the footsteps of their previous approaches regarding the disease, the United Nations through this reunion will insist on the necessity of vaccines distribution that goes beyond national issues especially since Russia and the United States have just announced that their vaccinations will begin in the coming days. For the UN secretary general – Antonio Guterres – the coronavirus vaccine should be a global public good that is available to everyone and everywhere. Obviously, this appears to be the most effective attitude most international organisations and forums such as the G20 should adopt to ensure an equal distribution of the vaccine because history in this case has mostly been unfair.

Technically, the UN will not raise funds; rather hopes to convince those still undecided that the world will only be able to put an end to the pandemic if vaccination is done fairly and exclusively with a special focus on third-world countries. For the secretary general, “It is time to reset” and a vaccine means an opportunity to build a strong recovery because the world’s economy has been hit hard by this pandemic since march 2020.

One of the hardest challenges for Health organisations such as WHO and state authorities will likely be that of convincing and giving the skeptics the vaccine. As a matter of fact, during the UN meeting, NGOs are expected to warn that without efforts to restore confidence, or counter false information crawling around the Sars-COV 2 vaccine; the benefits of vaccination will unavoidably be limited. “Having a vaccine does not mean vaccinating” notes Emanuele Capobianco, director of Health & Care, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. He effectively continued that “in many countries, there is resistance against a new vaccine”. The trustworthy organizations such Red Cross and WHO (which should get full support from the UN) will have to share their knowledge about this vaccine, to make people understand that it is safe and effective, through media that are well prepared and can fight false information, so that people agree to be vaccinated.”

Indeed, even if the question about the vaccine being given to Covidiots should be asked, whether everyone will accept it or not is another issue that urgently needs to be addressed. The answer will decide the fate of the cure’s success because those who refuse to be vaccinated will take part in accentuating the ineffectiveness of the vaccine.