Italy proposes international vaccine-alliance

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Wednesday phoned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present Italy’s proposal to the UN and the World Health Organization for a grand international alliance to work on a coronavirus vaccine.

“The world must be united in the face of this challenge and we must make sure that the vaccine, when it arrives, will be for everyone, not just the few,” Di Maio stressed to Guterres.

Many countries including Italy, Spain, the United States, and the United Kingdom, are still struggling desperately to put out the initial fire.

They are using suppression measures like stay-at-home orders as a fire extinguisher to smother transmission while urgently trying to ramp up their capacity to conduct testing, to manufacture and distribute personal protective equipment for health workers, and to treat people with COVID-19.

Experts warn that no sole manufacturer on earth will be able to single-handedly make enough vaccine in time for the Covid-19 virus.

The manufacturing of any successful vaccine will need to be globalized as quickly as possible wtih vaccine developers receiving public funds must be prepared to support the necessary technology transfer arrangements to manufacturers worldwide.

Via ANSA