Governments of countries where vaccines are being produced – the United States, European Union members, the United Kingdom, India, Russia, and China – need to cooperate under United Nations leadership to ensure that a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses reaches the poorest countries. Five steps are especially urgent.
NEW YORK – The world stands at a critical juncture of the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries that lack the first round of vaccine coverage are extraordinarily vulnerable to the highly infectious Delta variant, and are also seedbeds for new variants that could quickly spread worldwide. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission, which I chair, is working urgently with the United Nations system to strengthen the multilateral response. Governments of countries where vaccines are being produced – the United States, European Union members, the United Kingdom, India, Russia, and China – need to cooperate under UN leadership to ensure that a sufficient supply of vaccine doses reaches the poorest countries.
The high-income countries now have more than 50% of their population fully vaccinated. Yet the fully vaccinated population in Africa remains under 4%. This lack of vaccine coverage in Africa, and in low-income countries elsewhere, poses an imminent danger to these populations.
US President Joe Biden has called for a vaccine summit on September 22. This is potentially a highly significant step forward. It is important that the US hold this meeting in cooperation with China, India, Russia, and the other vaccine-producing countries, and with the UN system. Only the UN, with its universal membership and its operational capacity in low-income countries, has the ability to coordinate the rapid global scale-up of vaccine coverage.
In April 2020, the UN created the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility to provide vaccines to lower-income countries. These countries expected COVAX to provide timely deliveries. Yet COVAX has been unable to buy a sufficient volume of vaccine doses mainly because high-income countries have repeatedly cut to the front of the queue. Moreover, the vaccine-producing countries’ governments have imposed export quotas so that COVAX is often unable to secure even the vaccines for which it has contracts. The company shareholders are of course happy with these arrangements, because the rich countries pay more for the doses than COVAX would.
Jeremić u Bakuu: Srbija da se snažno odupre prihvatanju „Kosova“ kao nezavisne države
Predsednik Centra za međunarodne odnose i održivi razvoj (CIRSD) Vuk Jeremić izjavio je u Bakuu da bi Srbija trebalo da se snažno i hrabro odupre neprincipijelnim pritiscima da prihvati nezavisnost svoje južne pokrajine Kosova i Metohije.
Pročitaj više
Jeremić: Prihvatanje „francusko-nemačkog“ plana bi bilo samoubistvo
Predsednik Centra za međunarodnu saradnju i održivi razvoj (CIRSD) i bivši predsednik Generalne skupštine UN Vuk Jeremić izjavio je na predavanju u Diplomatskoj akademiji u Beču da bi prihvatanje „francusko-nemačkog“ plana bilo „političko samoubistvo za bilo koga iz Srbije koji bi se usudio da potpiše takav sporazum“, jer bi to praktično značilo priznavanje takozvanog „Kosova“ kao nezavisne države.
Pročitaj više
Jeremić, Lompar i Protić o ratu u Ukrajini, Rusiji i Kosovu i Metohiji
„Rat u Ukrajini je zapravo prvi oružani sukob od mnogih kojima ćemo biti savremenici, a u kojima će dva najkonsekventnija igrača 21. veka, SAD i Kina, uzeti indirektno ili direktno učešće. Slično kao što su se prvi put u 20. veku dve supersile sudarile i došle na ivicu direktnog sukoba oko ostrva na obalama jedne od njih, odnosno Kube, tako bi u 21. veku ta lokacija vrlo verovatno mogla biti Tajvan“, rekao je Jeremić.
Pročitaj više
Jeremić i Šmit-Traub: Nastavak rata u Ukrajini izazvaće svetsku krizu hrane
„Rat u Ukrajini je produbio postojeću krizu u sistemu proizvodnje i potrošnje hrane, koja je posledica pandemije i smanjenih prihoda, kao i klimatskih promena koje se širom sveta dramatično odražavaju na poljoprivrednu proizvodnju“, rekao je Šmit-Traub na predavanju „Kako će se budućnost odraziti na poljoprivredu, hranu i vodu“, održanom u okviru CIRSD-ovog programa “Lideri budućnosti“, čiji su polaznici postdiplomski studenti iz svih krajeva sveta.
Pročitaj više