Only a coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine can bring back ‘normalcy’, says UN chief Antonio Guterres
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday (April 15) that a coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine may be the only thing that will allow return to “normalcy,” expressing hope that the scientists would be able to develop the vaccine before the end of 2020.
“A safe and effective vaccine may be the only tool that can return the world to a sense of ‘normalcy,’ saving millions of lives and countless trillions of dollars,” said the UN chief.
The UN chief called for the accelerated development of COVID-19 vaccine adding it must have a “universal global benefit” and “allow us to control the pandemic.” “We need an ambitious effort to ensure that international stakeholders operate through a harmonized, integrated and leveraged approach to maximize the speed and scale needed for the universal deployment of such a vaccine by the end of 2020,” he insisted.
The UN chief made the statement at a time when the total number of coronavirus cases in the world has crossed the two million mark and the number of deaths due to the deadly viral disease has climbed above 1,30,000.
According to Johns Hopkins University as on Wednesday at 10:45 PM IST, the total number of coronavirus positive cases jumped to 20,16,020. The fatal virus has now taken over 1,30,528 lives since its outbreak in the world.
The US has been the worst-hit country as it has reported over 6,13,187 confirmed cases. Spain is at the second place with around 1,77,633 COVID-19 positive cases.
Italy on the third spot reported over 2,667 new confirmed cases in a day. The total confirmed cases in the country surged to 1,65,155. The number of positive cases was the lowest since March 13 but the daily count of deaths remained high.
