There is a huge gap between the funds needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic and funds committed worldwide, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
More than 19.92 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 729,883 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
“For the vaccines alone, over $100 billion will be needed,” Tedros told a briefing in Geneva.
Referring to an international initiative to accelerate healthcare access, Tedros said the “…coming three weeks represent crucial period for ACT (Access to COVID-19 Tools). However (we) have to scale up financing.”
He said he saw “green shoots of hope”.
“It is never too late to turn the pandemic around,” Tedros said. The message is to “suppress, suppress, suppress”.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Michael Shields; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Toby Chopra)
