Global solution to COVID-19 in sight, ‘we sink or we swim together’ – WHO chief

21 September 2020

Health?UN

Roughly 64 per cent of the global population lives in a nation that has either committed to, or is eligible to join, the?coronavirus?Vaccines Global Access Facility, or?COVAX, which enables participating Governments to spread the risk and costs of vaccine development and provide their populations with early access to vaccines.?

Working together through the COVAX Facility “is not charity, it’s in every country’s best interest. We sink or we swim together”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Vaccine nationalism’ will prolong?pandemic

prolong ?v. /pr??l??/ to make sth last longer 延長?? The operation could prolong his life by two or three years. 這次手術可使他多活兩三年。

Speaking at a press briefing with the international vaccine alliance GAVI, and the Coalition?for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the WHO chief said that commitment agreements have been secured and the COVAX Facility would begin signing contracts with vaccine manufacturers and developers.

GAVI:國際疫苗聯(lián)盟

Coalition?for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)：防疫改革聯(lián)合

The overarching?goal of the COVAX Facility is to ensure that all countries have access to vaccines at the same time, and that priority is given to those most at risk, according to the WHO chief.

overarching ?adj. /???v?r?ɑ?t???/ very important, because it includes or influences many things 非常重要的；首要的；概莫能外的

“The COVAX Facility will help to bring the pandemic under control, “save lives, accelerate the economic recovery and ensure that the race for vaccines is a shared endeavour, not a contest that only the rich can win”, he upheld. “Vaccine nationalism will only perpetuate the disease and prolong the global recovery”.

Endeavour??v. 努力，盡力?n. 努力，嘗試；事業(yè)

perpetuate ?v. /p??pet?ue?t/ 使永久化；使持久化；使持續(xù)?? to perpetuate injustice 持續(xù)造成不公正

More commitment needed

So far, $3 billion have been invested in the?ACT Accelerator?– only a tenth of the required $35 for scale-up and impact.

Tedros stressed that $5 billion is needed “immediately to maintain momentum?and stay on track for our ambitious timelines”.

momentum ?n. /m??ment?m/ ?

1.the ability to keep increasing or developing 推進力；動力；勢頭??The fight for his release gathers momentum each day. 爭取使他獲釋的斗爭聲勢日益加強。

2.a force that is gained by movement 沖力??The vehicle gained momentum as the road dipped. 那輛車順著坡越跑沖力越大。

3.( technical 術語 ) ?動量

“Our challenge now is to take the tremendous promise of the?ACT Accelerator?and COVAX to scale”, he said, adding, “we are at a critical point and we need a significant increase in countries’ political and financial commitment”. ?

The WHO chief cited estimates suggesting that once an effective vaccine has been distributed, and international travel and trade is fully restored, “the economic gains will far outweigh” the $38 billion investment required for the Accelerator.

“This isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do”, he spelled out.

COVAX realized

?“COVAX is now in business”, said Gavi CEO Seth Berkley. “Governments from every continent have chosen to work together, not only to secure vaccines for their own populations, but also to help ensure that vaccines are available to the most vulnerable everywhere”.?

“With the commitments we’re announcing today for the COVAX Facility, as well as the historic partnership we are forging with industry, we now stand a far better chance of ending the?acute phase?of this pandemic, once safe, effective vaccines become available”.

acute ?adj.?/??kju?t/adj. 嚴重的，[醫(yī)] 急性的；敏銳的；激烈的；尖聲的

acute phase?急性期指的是病變最快的時期

‘Great leap’ forward

Meanwhile, CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett called the international community’s coming together to tackle the pandemic “a landmark moment in the history of public health”.?

“The global spread of?COVID-19?means that it is only through equitable and simultaneous?access to new lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines that we can hope to end this pandemic,” he said. “Countries coming together in this way shows a unity of purpose and resolve to end the acute phase of this pandemic. Today, we have taken a great leap towards that goal, for the benefit of all”.

simultaneous ?adj. /?s?ml?te?ni?s/ ?happening or done at the same time as sth else 同時發(fā)生（或進行）的；同步的

? There were several simultaneous attacks by the rebels. 反叛者同時發(fā)動了幾起攻擊。

? simultaneous translation/interpreting 同聲傳譯

原文鏈接：https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1072932