Underlining the need for an effective mechanism to address global inequity of COVID-19 vaccines, India has said that vaccination drive is needed to address further mutation and offered to share its CoWIN platform as "digital public good to the world".
The UN Security Council, under the French Presidency, held closed consultations on Resolution 2565 on the COVID-19 situation on July 26.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti tweeted that in the Security Council consultations on COVID-19, he said, “need effective mechanism to address global #vaccine inequity; need #vaccination drive to address, interalia, further mutation; address public resistance through facts and India offers #COWIN as digital public good to the world.” CoWIN is India's technology platform for COVID-19 vaccination.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that CoWIN is being prepared to be made open source so that it will be available in any and all countries. Mr. Modi had said that India has been committed to sharing its expertise and resources with the global community in combating the pandemic.
The COVID-19 resolution, adopted by the Security Council in February this year, calls for the strengthening of national and multilateral approaches and international cooperation, such as the COVAX facility, to facilitate equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines in armed conflict situations, post-conflict situations and complex humanitarian emergencies.
It also stressed the need to develop international partnerships particularly to scale-up manufacturing and distribution capabilities, in recognition of differing national contexts, and noted the need to maintain incentives for the development of new health products.
The resolution recognised the role of extensive immunisation against COVID-19 as a global public good for health.
Permanent Representative of France to the UN Nicolas de Riviere tweeted that one year after the adoption of Resolution 2532, the Security Council met on the COVID-19 situation. Resolution 2532, adopted by the Security Council in July 2020, had expressed grave concern about the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world, especially in countries ravaged by armed conflicts, or in post-conflict situations, or affected by humanitarian crises and had demanded a “general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on its agenda.” “Despite some progress, it is far from satisfactory. We must continue to focus our efforts on a cessation of hostilities, a humanitarian pause & equitable access to vaccines,” the French envoy said.
The overall global COVID-19 caseload has topped 194 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.16 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
