China and over 60 countries warn COVID-19 'vaccine divide'

On behalf of over 60 countries, China on Wednesday voiced concern over the inequitable allocation and unbalanced vaccination for COVID-19, saying that the "vaccine divide" is posing the biggest obstacle in defeating the pandemic.

The world is still far behind schedule to achieve the World Health Organization's goal of 70 percent COVID-19 immunization coverage by mid-2022, Chen Xu, head of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations (UN) Office at Geneva, told the 49th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

"The 'vaccine divide' poses the biggest obstacle in defeating the pandemic, as only 5 percent population in low-income countries are fully vaccinated, far lower than the high-income countries," Chen noted.

He called on all countries to put the rights to life and health first, uphold the primary attribute of vaccination as a global public good, ensure equitable distribution of vaccines and speed up vaccination, so as to close the gap in immunization.

The international community needs to act in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation, give play to the role of multilateral mechanisms, give greater help to developing countries, and improve the availability and accessibility of vaccines and other health products in developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, he said.

"We support intensified cooperation among countries in the research of variants and pharmaceutic research and development, strengthen multi-tiered defense against the pandemic, and bring an end to the pandemic," Chen added.