UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Britain on Friday circulated a draft resolution to the UN Security Council demanding that all warring parties immediately institute a “sustained humanitarian pause” to allow people in conflict areas to get vaccinated against COVID- 19.
The proposed resolution reiterates the Council’s demand on July 1 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. The call was first made by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on March 23, 2020 to address the coronavirus pandemic.
The design “emphasizes the need for solidarity, justice and effectiveness and invites the donation of vaccine doses from developed economies to low- and middle-income and other countries in need,” including through the COVAX facility, an ambitious World Health Organization project. deliver coronavirus vaccines for the poorest people in the world.
The UK draft emphasizes that “fair access to affordable COVID-19 vaccines, certified as safe and effective, is essential to ending the pandemic.”
It would recognize “the role of comprehensive immunization against COVID-19 as a global public good for health in preventing, controlling and stopping transmission to end the pandemic.”
The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, is a follow-up to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s call on Wednesday for the 15-member Security Council to pass a resolution calling for a local ceasefire. in conflict areas to enable the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
Britain says more than 160 million people are at risk of being banned from coronavirus vaccinations because they live in countries overrun with conflict and instability.
“Cease-fire has been used in the past to vaccinate the most vulnerable communities,” Raab said. “There is no reason why we shouldn’t … We have seen it in the past deliver polio vaccines to children in Afghanistan, just to name one example.”
During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Guterres sharply criticized the “hugely unequal and unfair” distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, saying that 10 countries have administered 75% of all vaccinations and demand a global effort to ensure that all people in every country get vaccinated as soon as possible.
The UN chief told the high-level council that 130 countries have not received a single dose of vaccine and stated that “at this critical time, vaccine equality is the greatest moral test for the world community.”
The coronavirus has infected more than 109 million people and killed at least 2.4 million of them. As manufacturers struggle to ramp up vaccine production, many countries are complaining about being excluded and even rich countries are facing shortages and domestic complaints.
Guterres’ call for a ceasefire last March to provide COVID-19 medical items received some initial support, but the ceasefire was almost always short-lived.
While the speed at which vaccines are being developed has been impressive, COVAX has already missed its own goal of starting coronavirus vaccinations in poor countries, while shots were rolled out in rich countries late last year.
WHO says COVAX needs $ 5 billion by 2021.
The motion calls for the COVID-19 vaccination plans of countries “those at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms and the most vulnerable, including frontline workers, the elderly, refugees, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, migrants, among others persons with disabilities, as well as people living in areas controlled by a non-state armed group. “
The proposed measure calls for more scientific collaboration on new variants of COVID-19.
It asks Guterres to report at least every 90 days on all barriers to the COVID-19 response, including vaccination programs, in countries where conflict and humanitarian emergencies occur.
It is not clear whether the resolution will be adopted.
British UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said on Wednesday that humanitarian organizations and UN agencies need the full support of the council to do their job.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, objected to the council’s focus on fair access to vaccines, saying this went beyond its mandate to preserve international peace and security. He indicated that Moscow was not interested in a new resolution.