New York, May 22, 2021, SPA -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the world’s richest economies to take a central role in ending the COVID-19 pandemic by stepping up support for vaccines for all people, everywhere. During the G20 Global Health Summit in Rome, the UN Secretary General affirmed that it is time for decisive action, repeating his call for the G20 to establish a Task Force “able to deal with the pharmaceutical companies and other key stakeholders”, which would address equitable vaccine distribution through the COVAX global initiative. “We are at war with the virus. If you are at war with the virus, we need to deal with our weapons with rules of a war economy, and we are not yet there. This is true for vaccines, and it is true for other components in the fight against the virus,” he added. Pledging the UN’s full support for the effort, the UN Secretary-General said the G20 Task Force “should be co-convened at the highest levels by the major powers who hold most of the global supply and production capacity.” The UN Secretary General said vaccinating quickly and thoroughly, combined with continued public health measures, are the only way to end the global pandemic and prevent more dangerous COVID-19 variants from emerging, pointing out that grossly unequal access to vaccines, tests, medicines and supplies, including oxygen, have left poorer countries at the mercy of the virus. Antonio Guterres emphasized that although global action on vaccines can end this pandemic, it will not help prevent the next. --SPA 12:13 LOCAL TIME 09:13 GMT 0005 www.spa.gov.sa/w1560577