UNGA President bats for 'universal vaccination' as solution for COVID pandemic

President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Abdulla Shahid stated on Friday at his first press conference since the annual high-level week that multilateralism remains the only option to address common concerns. COVID-19 remains a huge problem that "will not be over until everyone achieves universal vaccination." Shahid told reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York, announcing plans for a high-level meeting in January to assess the worldwide vaccination effort.

Shahid was certain that they have the capacity to vaccinate the entire world. The UNGA President also claimed to have gotten two doses of the Covishield vaccination, which is made in India. AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical corporation, created the Covishield vaccine, which is manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune.

UNGA President will hold an event on October 26 to the second threat of climate change

In response to the second threat of climate change, the president will hold an event on October 26 titled "Delivering Climate Action for People, Planet, and Prosperity." Shahid also stated that he will continue to host "Holhuashi Dialogues," noting that a Holhuashi is a Maldivian gathering place where people can debate significant topics and ideas.

According to him, five such sessions will be held to bring the spirit of Holhuashi to the Assembly and provide a platform for discourse, exchange of views and solution discussion. He also said that this aligns with a series of events they have planned in the month of October around the issue of climate change in the lead up to COP26.

"A stronger gender lens is needed"

As the pandemic's effects worsen, Shahid says it's becoming evident that a stronger gender lens on response and recovery is needed in order to rebuild effectively. According to current statistics, closing the gender gap will take over 135.6 years if they don't take the required efforts to change the tide.

As per the press conference, the President will be flying to the United Arab Emirates right away to attend the Dubai EXPO 2020, followed by an official visit to the Maldives, and finally to Serbia for the Conference on the 60th Anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement's First Conference. 

The United Nations General Assembly's 76th session began on September 14, featured the world's largest annual gathering of leaders, and ended on September 27.

(Inputs from ANI)

Image: ANI