Together with the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Guterres launched this initiative, which is also focused on having 70 percent of the inhabitants of all countries immunized by mid-2022.

This ambitious strategy will have to overcome a number of obstacles, such as dose hoarding and nationalism, as it calls for greater international collaboration on technology, the two officials explained.

According to the UN Secretary General, it is a cost-effective, coordinated and credible way out of the pandemic and is based on exhaustive scientific analysis, taking into account the effectiveness of vaccines.

Through dose sharing, technology transfer and other priority actions, it is possible to reduce deaths and minimize suffering, prevent health systems from being overwhelmed, resume social and economic activities and reduce the risk of dangerous new variants, he said.

But it is up to UN member states to do their part, to pull together and do whatever is necessary for the strategy to succeed, Guterres stressed.

With vaccine production now at nearly 1.5 billion doses per month, we can reach 40 percent of people in all countries by the end of this year, if we can mobilize about $8 billion to ensure equitable distribution, he said.

The success of this plan requires that equitable distribution of immunizers: the only way to end the spread of Covid-19 is to achieve in all countries a high level of vaccination coverage, the Portuguese diplomat stressed.

abo/mem/ifb/cvl