WHO calls for end to 'vaccine nationalism', urges widespread flu vaccinations
WHO chief Tedros said countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to ensure supplies of a possible coronavirus vaccine are making the pandemic worse
GENEVA : Countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to ensure supplies of a possible coronavirus vaccine are making the pandemic worse, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday.
"(Acting) strategically and globally is actually in each country's national interest - no one is safe until everyone is safe," he told a virtual briefing calling for an end to "vaccine nationalism".
He said he had sent a letter to all WHO members asking them to join the multilateral COVAX vaccine effort.
Widespread flu vaccinations
The world must administer widespread anti-flu vaccinations this year to help to ward off the risk of complicating coronavirus infections, WHO senior adviser Bruce Aylward said today.
WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a briefing in Geneva that studies to date showed that less than 10% of the population has evidence of antibodies against the virus.
More than 21.9 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 772,647 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
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