Thread by @WHO

Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros pscp.tv/w/crisIjI2MTAy…

"This week marks the one-year anniversary since WHO learned of cases of ‘pneumonia with unknown cause’ via a bulletin issued by the health authorities in Wuhan and ProMed.

We immediately set up an incident management structure to follow this development"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"This is a moment for all of us to reflect on the toll the #COVID19 pandemic has taken, the progress we have made, the lessons we have learned, and what we need to do in the year ahead to end this pandemic"-@DrTedros

"For the past year, WHO and our partners have worked relentlessly to support all countries as they respond to the virus.
Staff have worked around the clock to accelerate science, provide solutions on the ground and build solidarity"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Science is at the core of everything we do and it has advanced at a blistering speed this year"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1343593831669886976?s=20

"If we rewind to the start of 2020, it was on 10 January that WHO published its first comprehensive package of guidance documents for countries, covering topics related to the management of an outbreak of a new disease"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"The next day, WHO received the full genetic sequences for the novel #coronavirus from China.

By 13 January, WHO published its first protocol for a diagnostic test by a WHO partner laboratory in Germany to detect the virus"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1343594060766965761?s=20

"By mid-January, our international technical expert networks were engaged and meeting by teleconference to share first hand knowledge with the new novel coronaviruses and similar respiratory viruses, such as MERS and SARS"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"And WHO convened the Strategic Technical Advisory Group for Infectious Hazards and the Global Alert and Response Network"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1343594339365253127?s=20

"By the end of the month, 30 January, I declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, WHO’s highest level of alert under global health law"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"By the start of February, WHO was shipping diagnostic tests around the world so that countries could detect and respond effectively"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"On 4 Feb, WHO released the 1st #COVID19 global preparedness & response plan based on the latest scientific evidence.
At the same time, WHO was connecting scientists, funders & manufacturers from across the 🌍 to accelerate research on tests, therapeutics & vaccines"-@DrTedros

"In mid-February, WHO’s longstanding R&D blueprint group brought hundreds of experts from more than 40 countries together to plot out a #COVID19 research roadmap.
This was based on years of work on other infectious diseases including SARS, MERS and Ebola"-@DrTedros

"The roadmap subsequently developed covered all technical areas from the animal human interface through to the development of vaccines and was set up to ensure maximum coordination and collaboration as the world tested, trialed and rolled out new health tools"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"This included the Solidarity Trial, an international clinical trial that generated robust data quickly to determine the most effective treatments"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1343595291627429888?s=20

"By March, WHO was planning the Access to #COVID19 Tools Accelerator, which was launched with partners in April"-@DrTedros #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1253670647290445826?s=20

"The @ACTAccelerator is a historic collaboration to further hasten the development, production and equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics for #COVID19 as part of an overarching endgame strategy.
And it has worked"-@DrTedros #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1343596643095109634?s=20

"Good news came in June as initial clinical trial results from the 🇬🇧 showed #dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, could be lifesaving for patients severely ill with #COVID19"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1273002041930022912?s=20

"By September, new antigen based rapid tests had been validated and the diagnostic pillar of the @ACTAccelerator had secured millions of them for low- and middle-income countries"-@DrTedros #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1310665256050528268?s=20

"And then the shot that rang out around the world was the release of positive vaccine news from multiple candidates, which are now being rolled out to vulnerable groups"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #ACTogether

"New ground has been broken not least with the extraordinary cooperation between the private and public sector in this pandemic"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #ACTogether

"In recent weeks, safe & effective #COVID19 vaccine rollout has started in a number countries, which is an incredible scientific achievement.
This is fantastic but WHO will not rest until those in need everywhere have access to the new vaccines & are protected"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Throughout the #COVID19 pandemic, we have released and updated technical guidance and trainings based on the latest science and best practice from countries.

We’ve then disseminated it through all our channels, including more than 130 press briefings like this one"-@DrTedros

"We’ve worked with thousands of scientists from around the 🌍 to build global solidarity; engaging with our critics & calling repeatedly for all stakeholders to quarantine any politicization of #COVID19 & focus on accelerating science to save lives & end this pandemic"-@DrTedros

"There will be set backs & new challenges in the year ahead. For example, new variants of #COVID19 and helping people who are tired of the pandemic continue to combat it"-@DrTedros

"At present, we are working closely with scientists all over the world to better understand any & all changes to the #COVID19 virus and how these changes affect its ability to spread or make people sick, or any potential impact on available tests, treatments & vaccines"-@DrTedros

"Specifically we are working with scientists in the 🇬🇧 and 🇿🇦 who are carrying out epidemiologic and laboratory studies, which will guide next steps"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1343599077477515266?s=20

"Science drives our actions.
I would like to thank both those countries for testing and tracking new variants and underscore the importance of increasing genomic sequencing capacity worldwide"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1343599246478610432?s=20

"This means the prompt sharing of epidemiological, virological, and full genome sequence information with WHO and other countries and research teams, including through open-source platforms such as GISAID and others"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Only if countries are looking and testing effectively will you be able to pick up variants and adjust strategies to cope.
We must ensure that countries are not punished for transparently sharing new scientific findings"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"I’m so humbled to work with scientists, epidemiologists & public health experts in WHO & around the 🌍.
Today I’m joined by four of the best to look back & look forward:
-Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim
-Dr. Dan Barouch
-Prof. David Heymann
-Prof. @MarionKoopmans"-@DrTedros

"As the year closes and people around the world raise a toast to mark both the passing of the year and the dawn of a new one, let me raise a toast to science; may we share its results fairly and equitably in the year ahead and together end this pandemic!"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"I thank the @ACTAccelerator partners, GOARN partners, the Emergency Medical Teams movement, member states, collaborating centers, advisory groups & expert networks for working with us.
None of us can end a pandemic by ourselves but together we will end this pandemic"-@DrTedros

"And thanks to each and every journalist tuning into our briefings and relaying science to people around the world"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #ACTogether

The full remarks by @DrTedros 👇 bit.ly/3hmOL1O