AMLO: UN Must Prevent the Hoarding of COVID Vaccines

The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, asked the United Nations (UN) to make a resolution recently proposed by Mexico binding to avoid the hoarding of vaccines against Covid-19.

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Speaking at his daily press conference, the president criticized that the UN, through the Covax mechanism, has distributed only four percent of the doses worldwide. In comparison, 10 countries have 80 percent of all the vaccines produced so far.

"There are still not enough vaccines, and there is a hoarding of vaccines in the world. (...) 10 countries have 80 percent of the vaccines, and like 110 or 120 we have 20 percent, and 80 countries do not have a single dose; it is a great injustice, and I say again with all due respect: and where is the UN?" said Lopez Obrador.

"We are going to continue insisting that there has to be solidarity because if not, everything is pure demagogy, and in a circumstance like this, what is noticeable is hoarding, selfishness, turning our backs on other human beings. Where is the universal fraternity?" he added.

He thanked countries such as China, Russia, and India, despite having large populations supported Mexico with vaccines. Currently, there is a commitment with these countries for up to 10 million doses for the next four months.

"We already have in contracts more than 140 million vaccines, in contracts, the issue is that they do not comply, they do not arrive on time, but we are going to continue," he said.

The government's commitment is to vaccinate all senior citizens before the end of April and later to vaccinate teachers to promote the return to classes in person.