World leaders to address high-level, special session of UN General Assembly on COVID-19 pandemic
United Nations: World leaders, the top leadership of the UN and vaccine developers will address a two-day, special session of the UN General Assembly on COVID-19 this week and discuss the pandemic's impact as well as the multi-faceted, coordinated response required to address the greatest global health crisis in decades.
The Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in Response to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic will take place on December 3 and 4 at the UN Headquarters.
The world organisation said government leaders, United Nations' principals and other relevant stakeholders would be able to engage in dialogue on the impact of the pandemic on people, societies and economies and discuss the multi-faceted, coordinated response required to address this crisis.
Serum Institute of India Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla will also address the session through a pre-recorded video on December 4.
BioNTech co-founders Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, vaccine team leader at Oxford University Sarah Gilbert and Chief Executive Officer of GAVI (the vaccine alliance) Seth Berkley will address the special session virtually.
AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are working on a COVID-19 vaccine, while global drugmaker Pfizer and BioNTech announced their vaccine candidate is 95 per cent effective.
World leaders expected to address the session are Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, French President Emmanuel Macron, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
President Donald Trump is not listed as a speaker for the session and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar will address the high-level meeting.
The two-day special session will allow many stakeholders to share their experiences in fighting the pandemic, reflect on the global response to date, and forge a united, coordinated, and people-centered path
forward.
