David Nabarro, Special Envoy on Covid-19 for the World Health Organization (WHO), participating in the ‘Defying Universal Fear: One Year On’ webinar, dedicated to the new challenges of Covid-19, said that the developed countries must immediately support the poor countries, especially the governments of African countries, to start the vaccination.
According to the WHO Special Envoy, countries with developed economies do not hesitate to turn to Africa for help when needed. Nabarro also said that even a year after the pandemic, the fear of infection is still great, which, according to the speaker, should have been overcome. Nabarro stressed that in order to overcome the infection, it is necessary to fully adapt people’s behavior to the current situation, to create interconnected, rapidly responding health systems, to take into account the mutations of the infection while creating vaccines, to develop a fair strategy for the future. The WHO Special Envoy also stated that international health regulations do not meet the modern requirements and do not contribute to the WHO’s ability to respond to global health issues adequately. He also informed that the activities and power of the head of the structure are limited in terms of acting and responding quickly.
Besides, Nabarro criticized the rich countries for hindering the full implementation of COVAX program. “It is impossible to overcome the epidemic if rich countries take the whole vaccine and leave to other countries what is left,” the WHO representative emphasized. Nabarro is sure that the future of the world will be hugely influenced by what happens in the next six months over access to vaccines.
Noubar Afeyan, the founder of Moderna Company, stressed that the important thing in creating vaccines is not the price race, but rather how many people will be saved from the virus thanks to vaccines. He also said that the coronavirus should be studied not only to record the discoveries about it, but also to find ways to overcome it. Afeyan stated that while developing their vaccine, they tested it for all possible mutations of coronavirus.
Lord Ara Darzi, Professor of Surgery and Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, said that one year after the spread of the epidemic, the vaccine race and it nationalization have become a great threat to humanity. He said that taking into consideration the speed of coronavirus mutation, vaccinations should be carried out worldwide, and not in ‘selected’ countries.
According to Ruben Vardanyan, co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, in order to overcome the epidemic faster, governments need to work more transparently with each other, as well as with societies.
The Futures Studio Foundation organized the discussion.
