Jokowi Talks of COVID-19 Vaccine Politicization, Discrimination at UNGA

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo highlighted the politicization and discrimination of COVID-19 vaccines during his speech at the 76th United Nations or UN General Assembly (UNGA). He said countries’ capacity and pace in dealing with the virus, including vaccination, widely differed.

“Politicization and discrimination towards vaccines continue to take place. We must solve these issues with concrete steps,” said the President as broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel on Thursday, September 23.

According to him, the world must reorganize the architecture of global health security in order to achieve health equity because no country is safe until all countries are safe from COVID-19.

“New mechanisms are necessary to mobilize global health resources, including financing, vaccines, medicines, medical devices, and health workers worldwide, quickly and fairly,” he remarked.

He also said global health protocol standards must be established immediately. “We need to set global health protocol standards in cross-border activities, such as vaccine criteria, test results, and other medical conditions.”

President Jokowi further called for empowering developing countries as part of the solution. Local manufacturing capacity must be built to meet global needs for vaccines, medicines, and medical devices. “Indonesia is committed and has the ability to be part of the global supply chain,” he said.

Read: Over 45 Million Indonesians Got Second Doses of Covid-19 Vaccines

DEWI NURITA