Demand for cheap vaccines eclipses US bid to attack WHO

Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 18

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The American agenda of cornering China at a high-level meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO) failed to get traction with the EU and developing countries, which sought free distribution of Covid vaccines instead.

The US was also unable to persuade delegation leaders of other countries, who spoke on Monday to concertedly press for a probe against the WHO. Most speakers, in fact, prioritised cheap availability of vaccines and continued hand-holding by the WHO.

The proposal by 40 countries supplemented by a concerted media campaign to include Taiwan as an observer at the WHO General Assembly found little interest among delegates of over 100 countries when they were sounded out a night before the beginning of the two-day meet.

As soon as the news broke that the WHO meet had put the Taiwan issue on the backburner, the US immediately condemned the decision and accused WHO DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of conspiring to exclude Taiwan. It also accused China of being “spiteful”.

The US had begun changing its focus of attack from WHO DG Tedros after realising that it had led to a push back from African countries in favour of the Ethiopian.

At the WHO meet on Monday, the general sense was that a review of the WHO’s handling of Covid could be taken up after nations finished dealing with the pandemic.