UNITED NATIONS (PA) – The United Kingdom on Friday distributed a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling on all parties to the war to immediately institute a “sustained humanitarian pause” to allow people in the areas of conflict are vaccinated against COVID-19.
The motion for a resolution reiterates the Council’s call on 1 July for a “general and immediate cessation of hostilities” in major conflicts from Syria and Yemen to the Central African Republic, Mali and Sudan and Somalia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a first call on March 23, 2020 to address the coronavirus pandemic.
The draft “emphasizes the need for solidarity, equity and effectiveness and calls for the donation of vaccine doses from developed economies to low- and middle-income countries and other countries that need it, even through of the COVAX Center ”, an ambitious project of the World Health Organization to buy and deliver coronavirus vaccines for the world’s poorest people.
The British project stresses that “equitable access to affordable COVID-19 vaccines, certified as safe and effective, is essential to ending the pandemic.”
It would recognize “the role of extensive immunization against COVID-19 as a global public good for health in preventing, containing, and stopping transmission, in order to end the pandemic.”
The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, follows the appeal of British Secretary Dominic Raab to the 15-member security council to adopt a resolution calling for a local ceasefire in conflict zones to allow delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
Britain says more than 160 million people are at risk of being excluded from coronavirus vaccines because they live in countries surrounded by conflict and instability.
“High fires have been used to vaccinate the most vulnerable communities in the past,” Raab said. “There’s no reason why we can’t … We’ve seen polio vaccines delivered to children in Afghanistan in the past, just to give an example.”
At Wednesday’s board meeting, Guterres harshly criticized the “uneven and uneven” distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, saying 10 countries have administered 75% of all vaccinations and demanding a global effort to vaccinate all people from all nations as soon as possible.
The head of the UN told the high-level council meeting that 130 countries have not received a single dose of vaccine and stated that “at this critical time, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test to the world community “.
The coronavirus has infected more than 109 million people and killed at least 2.4 million. As manufacturers struggle to increase vaccine production, many countries complain of being excluded and even rich nations face scarcity and domestic complaints.
Guterres’ appeal for a ceasefire last March to deliver medical supplies to COVID-19 received some initial support, but ceasefires were almost always short-lived.
While the speed of vaccine development has been impressive, COVAX has already lost its own goal of starting coronavirus vaccinations in poor countries at the same time as shots were fired in rich countries late last year.
The WHO says COVAX needs $ 5 billion in 2021.
The draft resolution calls for countries’ COVID-19 vaccination plans to include “those most at risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms and those most vulnerable, including front-line workers, the elderly, refugees, the displaced inmates, stateless persons, migrants, people with disabilities, among others, as well as people living in areas under the control of any non-state armed group. “
The proposed measure requires greater scientific collaboration in new variants of COVID-19.
It calls on Guterres to report at least every 90 days on all impediments to the response of COVID-19, including vaccination programs, in countries where conflicts and humanitarian emergencies occur.
It is unclear whether the resolution will be adopted.
Britain’s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said on Wednesday that humanitarian organizations and UN agencies need the full support of the council in order to carry out their work.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, opposed the council’s focus on equitable access to vaccines, saying this goes beyond its mandate to preserve international peace and security. He indicated that Moscow was not interested in a new resolution.