Red Cross urges against "vaccine nationalism"June 4, 2020 - 18:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Red Cross and the UN urged countries Wednesday, June 3 to avoid trying to secure future immunisation jabs against the coronavirus for their populations only, calling for a true "people's vaccine", AFP reports. The groups spoke out as scientists race to identify and test possible vaccines for Covid-19, which has killed more than 380,000 people and infected close to 6.5 million globally. They are also scrambling to find a safe and effective treatment. "We need to fight what is now called vaccine nationalism," Emanuel Capobianco, head of health at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told AFP. Unless there was a clear international commitment to global solidarity on this issue, individual countries might end up scrambling to secure their own populations' vaccine needs. But while the world waited for that vaccine, countries would do well to invest in getting production and distribution up to scale -- for everyone, everywhere, he advised. "Now is the moment to prioritise that," said Capobianco. "We need to make sure that this spirit of global solidarity and this principle of vaccines as a public good is put at the very centre of the political agenda on Covid-19." Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |