UN chief urges global plan to reverse unfair COVID-19 vaccine access

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sharply criticized the “wildly uneven and unfair” distribution of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, saying 10 countries have administered 75% of all vaccinations and demanding a global effort to get all people in every nation vaccinated as soon as possible.

Guterres called for an urgent Global Vaccination Plan to bring together those with the power to ensure fair vaccine distribution -- scientists, vaccine producers and those who can fund the effort. The secretary-general called on the world’s major economic powers in the Group of 20 to establish an emergency task force to establish a plan and coordinate its implementation and financing. He said the task force should have the capacity "to mobilize the pharmaceutical companies and key industry and logistics actors." Guterres said Friday’s meeting of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations "can create the momentum to mobilize the necessary financial resources."