UN Secretay General António Guterres said that a huge gap in health coverage is one of the reasons why COVID-19 has caused so much pain and suffering.

He underlined that public health programmes must be inclusive and equitable, without financial barriers.

The secretary General also highlighted the urgent need of universal health coverage, including mental health coverage to strengthen efforts against COVID 19 as well as to prepare for future crises.

According to WHO data, the number of infected cases has crossed 35.53 million worldwide.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for solidarity and political commitment by all leaders to ensure equal distribution of vaccines when they become available.

Nine experimental vaccines are in the pipeline of the WHO’s COVAX global vaccine facility that aims to distribute 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, India continues to lead the global tally, with over 5.7 million recoveries so far. It has achieved a recovery rate of over 85 per cent.