(March 16, 2022)

Mr. President,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of over 60 countries. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, remarkable progress has been made in vaccination around the world thanks to concerted efforts of the international community. However, inequitable allocation and unbalanced vaccination in the world remain acute. We are still far behind schedule to achieve the WHO goal of 70% COVID-19 immunization coverage by mid-2022. The “vaccine divide” poses the biggest obstacle in defeating the pandemic, as only 5% population in low-income countries are fully vaccinated, far lower than the high-income countries. This will further exacerbate global inequality.

We welcome the UN General Assembly High-Level Debate on Galvanizing Momentum for Universal Vaccination, call on all countries to put the rights of 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. We support intensified cooperation among countries in research of variants and pharmaceutic research and development, strengthen multi-tiered defence against the pandemic, and bring an end to the pandemic.

Thank you, Mr. President.

China, Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao DPR, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe