According to a draft of the Pandemic Accord, richer countries, including the UK, would be asked to reserve 20% of tests, treatments and vaccines for WHO to distribute in poorer countries during emergencies.
The WHO Accord states the UN-run agency would get “real-time access” to 10 per cent of these products for free, and 10 per cent “at affordable prices.”
An unnamed source familiar with the Accord negotiations said the UK cannot accept these proposals in their current form and will only agree to the treaty if it is given a commitment that British-made vaccines are used for what the UK deems to be its own national interests.
“We will only support the adoption of the Accord and accept it on behalf of the UK, if it is firmly in the UK national interest and respects national sovereignty,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Department of Health and Social Care said in a statement to Reuters.
The head of WHO on Friday restated his hope that the vaccine impasse can be resolved as the talks entered their second week. Countries are due to finalise negotiations on the Accord on 10 May, with a view to adopting it at the WHO’s annual meeting later this month....<<<Read More>>>....
