Circular
2/2021
Barcelona, 26 February 2021
 
To the members of the World Council
To the Secretaries General
To the Vice-Presidents of United Cities and Local Governments
To the Chairs of UCLG Committees, Working Groups, Communities of Practice and Fora

For information: To the Presidency


UCLG joins the call of WHO for vaccine equity 

 

Dear members of the World Council,
 
Following consultations among the enlarged Presidency team, it was agreed to join the call issued by the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to work together in solidarity, to ensure that within the first 100 days of the year, vaccination of health workers and people at risk is underway everywhere in the world.
 
This call is in line with the spirit of renewed solidarity of our Decalogue for the post-COVID era and responds to the evolution of the distributions of vaccines at global level, as well as the expressions of concern of members around the world.
 
Below, you will find the call that was published on the UCLG Website and that focuses on three key principles defended already in our Decalogue:
 
-      Linked destinies and solidarity
-      Equitable universal access and distribution 
-      Need to protect those in the frontline 
 

UCLG call for vaccine equity:
 
Over a year since the first cases of COVID-19 were identified, we are starting to see possible ways out of the pandemic due to an unprecedented effort by all stakeholders, in particular the scientific sector, to deliver vaccines all over the world.
 
This is why we join the call by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to start vaccinating health workers and those people at the highest risk of COVID-19 in the first 100 days of 2021.
 
The vaccination efforts, while remarkable, also lay bare the many inequalities that we still face, with low- and middle-income countries havi-ng the most difficulties accessing vaccines. The inequalities that the pandemic has exacerbated can often prevent that the people who need it most, and communities most at risk, receive vaccinations, costing lives and often intensifying the social and economic crisis that the entire world is immersed in.
 
Our destinies are linked and we will only overcome these great challenges if we work to ensure that vaccines reach all, starting by public workers at the front line. We are convinced that universality is not only possible but the only way to overcome this great challenge. As our UCLG Decalogue for the COVID era states, solidarity has been a beacon of security over the past months while the vaccine was being developed. We need to continue in this spirit and ensure free and equitable distribution of vaccines to recover better and leave no one behind.
 
We need equitable access to vaccines to be guaranteed all around the world.
 
 
You can read the call to action from the World Health Organization here.
 
 
The World Secretariat remains at your disposal for any further information you might need.
 
Sincerely,

The UCLG World Secretariat