GENEVA — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday called on the international community to put the same effort into fairly distributing coronavirus vaccines. At the WHO’s regular news briefing in Geneva, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lauded the recent development of the vaccines, noting the significance of the scientific achievement cannot be overstated. The WHO chief said that the scientific community had set “a new standard for vaccine development” and now the international community must set “a new standard for access”. “No vaccines in history have been developed as rapidly as these. The scientific community has set a new standard for vaccine development.” But he said the international community must set a new standard for access to these new vaccines and ensure they are available to the poorest nations in the world. He also said that “there is now real hope” that vaccines will play an essential part in helping end the COVID pandemic. Tedros explained that it was against this backdrop that WHO and its partners had established the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator back in April. “The ACT Accelerator has supported the fastest, most coordinated and successful global effort in history to develop vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics”, he attested. He said that currently, 50 diagnostics are under evaluation; rapid antigen diagnostics are now available for low and middle-income countries; while life-saving treatments are being rolled out and new medicines tested. Moreover, 187 countries are taking part in the COVAX facility, to collaborate on the procurement and rollout of vaccines, “ensuring the best possible prices, volumes, and timing for all countries”, he said. Despite the excellent progress, Tedros said that “only a fundamental change in funding and approach will realize the full promise of the ACT Accelerator”. He revealed that $4.3 billion is still needed to support mass procurement and delivery, tests, and treatments this year and another $23.8 billion would be required in 2021. “This isn’t charity, it’s the fastest and smartest way to end the pandemic and drive the global economic recovery”, he stressed. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), if medical solutions can be made available faster and more widely, they could lead to a cumulative increase in global income of almost $9 trillion by the end of 2025. “The real question is not whether the world can afford to share vaccines and other tools; it’s whether it can afford not to”, stated the WHO chief. — UN news