WHO chief calls for 'fair allocation' after Pfizer COVID vax news

GENEVA: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for "fair allocation" of a COVID-19 vaccine after drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech this week said that their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing the disease in interim analysis of data.

Addressing the member states at the 73rd World Health Assembly on Tuesday, the WHO chief said that the UN health agency welcomes Pfizer's "promising news" and expect additional effective vaccines in near future along with advances in testing and therapeutics.

"I called on Member States to reiterate their commitment to fair allocation of a #COVID19 vaccine. We mustn't leave any country behind in the response," Ghebreyesus said.

Based on current projections, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses this year and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.

The issue of challenges of distributing a potential vaccine such as the one being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was also raised by Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Regional Director for Africa. (IANS)

Also Read: US State Department approves F-35 jets sale to UAE

Also Watch: All Religion Prayer Meet in Jorhat for Tarun Gogoi