Thread by @cnnphilippines

HAPPENING NOW: @WHO holds #COVID19 media briefing

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1374034077469134849

.@DrTedros : #Tuberculosis is preventable & treatable, but remains 1 of the 🌎’s top infectious killers because too many people go undiagnosed. Improved screening is essential to rapidly identify people with TB infection or disease & connect them with car. who.int/campaigns/worl…

.@DrTedros : We have the means to avert this failure, but it’s shocking how little has been done to avert it. The gap between the number of vaccines administered in rich countries & the number of vaccines administered through #COVAX is growing & becoming more grotesque every day.

.@DrTedros : Countries that are now vaccinating younger, healthy people at low risk of #COVID19 disease are doing so at the cost of the lives of #healthworkers, older people and other at-risk groups in other countries. | via @WHO

.@DrTedros : The 🌎’s poorest countries wonder whether rich countries really mean what they say when they talk about 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚. The inequitable distribution of #COVID19 vaccines is not just a moral outrage. It’s also economically & epidemiologically self-defeating.

.@DrTedros : The more transmission, the more variants. And the more variants that emerge, the more likely it is that they will evade #COVID19 vaccines. | via @WHO

.@DrTedros : And as long as the virus continues to circulate anywhere, people will continue to die, trade and travel will continue to be disrupted, and the economic recovery will be further delayed. | via @WHO

.@DrTedros : So far, AstraZeneca is the only:

-company that has committed to not profiting from its #COVID19 vaccine during the pandemic
-vaccine developer that has made a significant contribution to #VaccinEquity, by licensing its technology to several other companies. via @WHO

.@DrTedros : Today, AstraZeneca announced positive results from a trial of the vaccine among 32,000+ people in 🇨🇱, 🇵🇪& the 🇺🇸. The vaccine was 79% effective in preventing symptomatic #COVID19 & 100% effective in preventing hospitalization & death. No safety concerns were reported