Today I am launching a new United Nations public advocacy campaign — Only Together, which calls for COVID-19 vaccines to be available to everyone, everywhere.
This year of crisis has caused a tidal wave of suffering.
The virus has killed more than 2.5 million people, and left millions more with debilitating long-term health effects.
Families and economies are reeling.
Now, with the promise of vaccines, we can see light at the end of the tunnel.
Scientists worked wonders, developing safe and effective vaccines in record time.
We now have the tool to stop COVID-19 in its tracks.
But so far, a small number of rich countries are rolling out a majority of the doses.
COVID-19 vaccines must be considered a global public good.
No country can overcome this crisis in isolation.
Governments and businesses must share doses and technology so supply goes further, and distribution goes faster.
COVAX, the global vaccine initiative, is our best way to do just that.
So, let’s make it happen.
Only together can we protect healthcare workers and the world’s most vulnerable people.
Only together can we revive our economies.
Only together can we end this pandemic and recover.
And then, together, we can all get back to the things we love.
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PRESS RELEASE
UN launches new campaign, Only Together, to support global vaccine equity call
11 March, New York — The United Nations today launched a new global campaign, Only Together, to support its call for fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
The campaign stresses the need for coordinated global action to ensure vaccines are accessible in all countries, starting with health-care workers and the most vulnerable.
“Over the past year, we’ve all missed out on doing the things we love to do with others—eating, hugging, and going to school and work,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed.
“Millions of us have lost someone we love or had our livelihoods taken away. An unprecedented global scientific effort for vaccines has given us hope to defeat the virus — but only if we work together to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to COVID-19 vaccines. Only together can we end the pandemic and transform a new era of hope.”
More than 2.5 million people around the world have died from COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. The COVID-19 vaccines will stop people from dying, prevent new variants from emerging, reignite economies and offer the best hope to end the pandemic.
The biggest vaccine roll out in history is now underway with millions of doses being delivered around the world, including to some of the world’s poorest countries, through the efforts of COVAX, the global vaccine equity mechanism.
But these doses will initially only cover a small segment of the populations — healthcare workers and the most vulnerable. By the end of 2021, COVAX aims to offer vaccines to nearly 30 per cent of each participating country’s population. But that progress pales compared to 10 rich countries who possess nearly 80 per cent of all COVID-19 vaccines, with some planning to vaccinate their entire population within the next few months.
COVAX, which is led by the World Health Organization, GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and in partnership with UNICEF, has 190 participating countries. It needs more than US$2 billion to fully meet its goal to vaccinate those most in need by the end of the year.
Pledging new funding for COVAX is critical, but more can be done to scale up vaccine access by sharing excess vaccines, transferring technology, offering voluntary licensing or even waiving intellectual property rights.
“If the world’s scientists were able to develop safe and effective vaccines in just seven months, the aims of world’s leaders must be equally record-breaking — to provide enough funding and to ramp up manufacturing to enable everyone on earth to be vaccinated,” said UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming.
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Verified is a United Nations initiative launched in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Designed in collaboration with Purpose as well as civil society groups, media partners, social media platforms and influencers, its purpose is to provide content that cuts through the noise to deliver life-saving information, fact-based advice and stories from the best of humanity. For more information, please visit https://shareverified.com/en
COVAX is the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. The ACT Accelerator is a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. COVAX is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside key delivery partner UNICEF. Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.