Iran says lifting bans, vaccine equity key to battle COVID

TEHRAN (Defapress) - Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations said the battle against the coronavirus pandemic requires a fair distribution of the vaccine among nations as well as the removal of sanctions.

News ID: 83038

Date: 19 February 2021 - 03:30

International partners working to achieve equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines appealed on Wednesday for the UN Security Council to ensure people caught in conflict have access to these lifesaving treatments.

In a briefing to the UN Security Council high-level meeting, Iran’s UN envoy, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, said, “COVID-19 is the common enemy of humanity and targets them regardless of race, religion and nationality; to fight against it, the practical cooperation and solidarity of all nations is a necessity.”

He pointed out the hopes created by the developing vaccines, stressing that a concerted global effort is needed to mass-produce and fairly distribute the vaccines around the world.

The Iranian envoy also criticized the fact that millions of citizens in the western countries have been vaccinated so far, while many developing countries are still have been grappling with the pandemic with no or few vaccinations.

"No one is safe anywhere in the world until everyone is immune to the virus, especially since new mutations of coronavirus are spreading so fast," Takht-Ravanchi added.

He stressed that in parallel with vaccination, other measures should be taken to help developing countries, including the immediate lifting of unilateral sanctions and inhumane sieges in areas such as Yemen and Gaza.

The diplomat added, "The Iranian government has not been able to adequately help compensate companies and the private sector that have been hit by the pandemic due to the seizure of its financial resources abroad under the illegal US sanctions."

Takht-Ravanchi underlined that there is no choice but to increase international cooperation to succeed in the pandemic, and such cooperation entails fair distribution of the vaccine and removal of sanctions as well as the lifting of inhumane sieges around the world.

Iran has been contending with the deadliest pandemic the world has seen in many decades amid illegal US sanctions, which have been hampering its access to vaccines, medicine, and medical equipment in the global market.

Besides developing its own vaccines at home, Iran has imported the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia and plans its joint production with Moscow.

Iran has also purchased 16.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, a multi-agency group dedicated to assuring fair access to vaccines for low- and middle-income countries.