The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) convened a special high-level meeting on “A Vaccine for All” on 16 April 2021. As the world struggles with a pandemic of historical proportion, immense progress has been made with the launch of the first vaccines against COVID-19. The race to develop and deploy safe and effective vaccines everywhere is a top priority for the international community, especially with new contagious COVID-19 strains. But inequality in access to the vaccine is threatening to deepen further the divide between the poor and the rich countries.
The Economic and Social Council explored ways to ensure equal access to the vaccine, as a global public good. It discussed ways to bridge the financing gap and to maximize the vaccine supply, affordability, and distribution throughout the world. The Council also explored how to strengthen countries' capacities, infrastructure and readiness for vaccine distribution and preparedness against other shocks.
The ECOSOC President issued a Presidential Statement to capture the highlights of the meeting.
Statements
- Statement by H.E. Mr. Munir Akram, President of the Economic and Social Council
- Statement by H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
- Keynote address by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)
- Keynote address by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO)
- Other statements
- Morning meeting [10:00-12:00]
- Afternoon meeting [14:00–16:00; 16:00-18:00]
Resources
- World Health Organization: COVID-19 pandemic
- World Health Organization: COVID-19 vaccines
- World Trade Organization: COVID-19 Vaccine Equity - What can the WTO contribute?
- Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator
- COVAX
- #Vaccine4All Initiative by the UN President of the General Assembly
- United Nations “Only Together” Campaign
- UNICEF and COVID-19 Vaccines
- COVID-19 related information from the UN System
- Policy Brief: COVID-19 and Universal Health Coverage
- Latest news from UN News Centre