“The global community needs to empower WHO with the clear authority to investigate outbreaks of concern rapidly and there must be clear criteria for the agency on when to declare a public health emergency of international concern.”
“The Peoples Vaccine Alliance, along with a growing number of other voices, has called upon G-7 governments to support patent waivers for the technology, which would suspend intellectual property rights.”
“Many DFIs focused on supporting their existing clients through the crisis rather than finding new clients. Investing has been more challenging, but concerns that their balance sheets would take a hit didn’t materialize, nor did the type of demand they expected for liquidity support.”
“African nations expect to receive $33.6 billion from a new issuance of Special Drawing Rights, according to Vera Songwe, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. On Wednesday, G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors reaffirmed calls for the International Monetary Fund to make a proposal for a new allocation of $650 billion in SDRs — an international reserve asset — that will provide countries around the world with liquidity. The last SDR allocation was issued in 2009 following the global financial crisis.”
“Countries are disadvantaging their citizens by not participating in COVAX, as this may lead to international organizations that work in these countries acquiring vaccines for their staffers while citizens are left behind.”
“We’ve just spent the past year building COVAX, a global solution to a global problem. The same principles of solidarity that are delivering COVID-19 vaccines across the world can also deliver on gender equality.”
“During a press conference Thursday, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director John Nkengasong outlined a strategy that will enable all African nations to roll out vaccines that require ultracold temperature storage.”
“Overstretched development assistance budgets won’t be enough to meet the needs of the COVID-19 response and stretched health systems, but most of the funding for these global public goods is going to come from governments — though it may flow through a number of mechanisms, including grants, International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights, or debt relief.”
“Providing fair and equitable access to vaccines will be key to managing the health and economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“John Nkengasong, director at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, watched events unfolding in China with concern — long before the rest of the world had turned its attention to what was then just a mysterious outbreak of atypical pneumonia.”
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