The head of the World Health Organization says 167 countries and territories have joined a WHO-led program for the fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke remotely at a UN General Assembly event on Wednesday.
He noted that more than one million people are confirmed to have lost their lives to COVID-19.
Tedros added that the actual death toll is certainly higher, and called for united global efforts to fight the pandemic.
He said that 167 countries and territories, in which about 70 percent of the world's population live, had joined a global vaccines facility as of Wednesday, and the list is growing every day.
Japan is one of the participants, while the United States and China have not joined.
Tedros warned against moves by some countries to secure exclusive supplies of vaccines, saying, "This is a moment to say no to nationalism, and yes to our shared humanity."
He also called for more funding for the vaccine initiative.
nhk
