The remarkable and rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines offers "great hope" that the devastating pandemic can be overcome, the UN chief told the first International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation on Thursday, but everyone must be reached everywhere, "as quickly as possible".
Addressing the gathering in China via video message, Secretary-General António Guterres pushed for a Global Vaccine Plan to combat the global pandemic that has claimed more than four million lives.
"This is a matter of fairness and justice - but it's also critical to avoid the emergence of further variants that can resist the current vaccines and undermine national vaccination efforts", he said.
Just arrived: Lao PDR received a new batch of Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccines consisting 616,820 doses donated by the Government of Japan through the COVAX Facility. #VaccinateLaos
