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Duterte renews call for universal access to COVID-19 vaccine

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John Gabriel Agcaoili, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/12/01/20201121-duterte-apec-virtual-meeting-prib-6.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte joins fellow leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries in the virtual 27th APEC Economic Leaders&#x27; Meeting at the Malacañang Palace on November 20, 2020. <em>Toto Lozano, Presidential Photo/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - In his second appearance at the United Nations, President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his call for universal and inclusive access to COVID-19 vaccines, as their development by year&#x27;s end is near realization while the coronavirus pandemic still rages on.</p><p>Duterte, in a video message at UN early Friday morning (Manila time), said all countries should get access to coronavirus vaccines once these have been developed, deemed effective, and distributed to the public.</p><p>&quot;The Philippines reiterates the call for the universal access of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and technologies. If any country is excluded by reason of poverty or strategic unimportance, this gross injustice will haunt the world for a long time,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;We cannot let this happen. No one is safe unless everyone is safe.&quot;</p><p>His renewed call for inclusive vaccine access comes after drugmakers Moderna, Pfizer Inc., and AstraZeneca declared their COVID-19 vaccines showed efficacy results 90 percent and above.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/16/20/moderna-says-its-vaccine-is-945-effective-in-preventing-covid-19">Moderna says its vaccine is 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/18/20/pfizer-ends-covid-19-trial-with-95-efficacy-to-seek-emergency-use-authorization">Pfizer ends COVID-19 trial with 95% efficacy, to seek emergency-use authorization</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/11/30/20/astrazeneca-deal-gives-ph-experts-access-to-covid-19-vaccine-trial-data">AstraZeneca deal gives PH experts access to COVID-19 vaccine trial data</a></li></ul><p>Duterte urged UN member states to boost the capacity of their health systems as the world waits for the full development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.</p><p>&quot;Our first priority is to strengthen the capacity of health systems. Without a cure and a vaccine, we can only delay the spread of the disease while we open our economies. Life-saving services and products must be made accessible to the most vulnerable,&quot; he said.</p><p>He affirmed the Philippines&#x27; support for the global scientific initiatives by the World Health Organization, such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, the COVAX Facility, and the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP). He assured the Philippines&#x27; participation in pooling of global funds and resources to combat COVID-19 worldwide.</p><p>&quot;The end of this pandemic is still difficult to see, yet the broad outlines of the horizon are breaking through. It is never too early to think of a bouncing-back strategy,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Now is the time to further strengthen our networks of solidarity and cooperation...the time is now for greater collective courage, meaningful actions to see the end of this pandemic.&quot;</p><p>In his first appearance at the UN, Duterte described the pandemic as the &quot;biggest test&quot; the world and the UN is facing since World War 2.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/23/20/all-countries-must-get-access-to-covid-19-vaccine-duterte-tells-un">All countries must get access to COVID-19 vaccine, Duterte tells UN</a></li></ul><p>The Philippines earlier allowed its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. The emergency use authorization “shall be valid only within the duration of the declared public health emergency due to COVID-19,” said Duterte. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/02/20/philippines-allows-emergency-use-of-covid-19-vaccines-drugs">Philippines allows emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines, drugs</a></li></ul><p>As of posting, the Philippines has 435,413 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of the total, 399,325 have recovered while 8,446 died, leaving at least 27,642 active cases in the country.</p><p>According to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard, at least 64.8 million people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19, with nearly 1.5 million fatalities, a year after the deadly disease first emerged in Wuhan, China.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P2aEaWYXv2Y?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>MANILA - In his second appearance at the United Nations, President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his call of universal and inclusive access to COVID-19 vaccine, as its development by year's end is near realization while the coronavirus pandemic still rages on.<br /> </p>

MANILA - In his second appearance at the United Nations, President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his call of universal and inclusive access to COVID-19 vaccine, as its development by year's end is near realization while the coronavirus pandemic still rages on.

Duterte renews call for universal access to COVID-19 vaccine

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Duterte renews call for universal access to COVID-19 vaccine

John Gabriel Agcaoili,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 04, 2020 04:17 AM PHT

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