Speaking at a high-level meeting of the UN security council on Wednesday, Guterres said: “The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is generating hope. At this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community. We must ensure that everybody, everywhere, can be vaccinated as soon as possible. Yet progress on vaccinations has been wildly uneven and unfair.”

“Just ten countries have administered 75 percent of all COVID-19 vaccines. Meanwhile, more than 130 countries have not received a single dose,” Guterres said.

He underlined that the world urgently needed a Global Vaccination Plan to bring together all those with the required power, scientific expertise, and production and financial capacities.

“I believe the G20 is well placed to establish an Emergency Task Force to prepare such a Global Vaccination Plan and coordinate its implementation and financing,” he added. (ILKHA)