GENEVA 鈥 A vaccine against COVID-19 may be ready by year-end, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for solidarity and political commitment by all leaders to ensure equal distribution of vaccines when they become available.
鈥淲e will need vaccines and there is hope that by the end of this year we may have a vaccine. There is hope,鈥 Mr. Tedros said in final remarks to the WHO鈥檚 Executive Board, without elaborating.
Nine experimental vaccines are in the pipeline of the WHO鈥檚 COVAX global vaccine facility that aims to distribute 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
The two-day board meeting, which examined the global response to the pandemic, heard calls from countries including Germany, Britain, and Australia for reforms to strengthen the UN agency.
US President J. Donald Trump鈥檚 administration has strongly criticized the WHO鈥檚 role in the crisis, accusing it of being too close to China and not doing enough to question Beijing鈥檚 actions late last year when the virus first emerged in Wuhan.
Mr. Tedros has dismissed the suggestions and said his agency has kept the world informed.
Three independent panels reviewing WHO performance including its 2005 International Health Regulations鈥攚hich set guidelines on trade and travel restrictions imposed during health emergencies鈥攇ave updates on their work.
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, met for the first time last month.
鈥淲e hope to get the real lessons that we can implement and prevent the same thing from happening,鈥 Mr. Tedros said. 鈥淏ut I would like to assure you that WHO is ready to learn from this and change this organization.
鈥淒uring our transformation, we promised this, we promised to keep change as a constant,鈥 he said, referring to his program since taking the helm in 2017. 鈥 Stephanie Nebehay/Reuters
