(Finance) – The director of the EMA, Emer Cookedeclared to Ansa that i vaccines adapted products approved by the EU also protect against the Eris variant. “Eris is one of the variants we have been tracking and the new vaccines also protect against Eris“, as well as “against the most recent variations out there,” Cooke explained. “The pandemic is over – he added – but the virus is still a threat to those at risk, therefore people over 65, those with precarious health conditions and pregnant women they must get vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, the UN deputy secretary, Amina Mohammedduring the high-level meeting on prevention and response to new pandemics which was held on the sidelines of theUnited Nations General Assembly, said that “Covid was simultaneously a demonstration of human ingenuity and failure.” “On the one hand there were the test created at the speed of light and vaccines developed in record time – he explained – On the other, the lack of preparation which has affected the most vulnerable and vaccines monopolized by rich countries while the populations of poorer nations have been deprived of them.”
Remembering that these inequalities persist even today, Amina Mohammed lamented that the pandemic has further diverted the goals of development sustainablewith serious consequences on levels of poverty, public debt and social inequalities, underlining the need not to repeat the errors of the past during the inevitable next pandemic. This is why Mohammed underlined the importance of improving surveillance of the virus, strengthening health systems and ensuring equitable access for all countries to vaccines, treatments and life-saving technologies.
Mohammed called for strengthening the authority and funding of theWorld Health Organization (WHO) and urged member countries to reach a strong and comprehensive agreement on pandemics, focused on equity and accompanied by amendments to the International Health Regulations. In particular, he underlined, preparing for the pandemic requires a fight against it disinformation which “undermines expert advice and fuels vaccine skepticism.” Finally, the response strategy it must take into account the new nature of shocks, “increasingly international and increasingly complex” which require responses involving a wide range of different actors.