'A vaccine cannot undo damage': U.N secretary-general warns of post-Covid-19 future

U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that although vaccines against the coronavirus are slowly rolling out, the aftershocks of the virus will be felt for decades to come.

Workers pray before sanitising a building in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [File: Ahmad Yusni/EPA-EFE]

Guterres told U.N members at the General Assembly-- dedicated to discussing a path forward after the pandemic-- to "not fool ourselves" about prospects of life returning to normal because vaccines are shortly scheduled to roll out, citing increased levels of poverty, famine, and economic the virus has exacerbated.

“This is not a time to point fingers,” he said. “We have convened here to forge a path forward and to end the suffering of the people we serve,” U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Guterres praised scientists and governments for their efforts in both funding and searching for vaccines against Covid-19--which has so far killed 1.5 m people according to the latest stats--and urged world leaders of wealthy nations to assist impoverished countries in receiving dosages of the treatment.

"When countries go in their own direction, the virus goes in every direction,” Guterres said as he appealed for countries to contribute funds to fill the U.N's $4.3bn budget, scheduled for use in the next two months, to acquire vaccines for developing nations.

So far more than 180 countries have joined the global collaboration effort under the U.N's Covaxs program aims to distribute vaccines equitably.

By: Niza Nondo