DOMINIC Raab is urging all conflict zones around the world to implement a “vaccination ceasefire,” by temporarily pausing the fighting to enable the rollout of coronavirus vaccines to tens of millions of people in war-ravaged countries.
The Foreign Secretary will lead the call for local ceasefires at a meeting of the UN Security Council later today when he will tell world leaders that they have a “moral duty” to act.
He is expected to warn that allowing Covid-19 to spread in areas without vaccination campaigns will increase the risk of new variants taking hold.
Mr Raab will urge UNSC members to agree a resolution for negotiated vaccine ceasefires and help to ensure the most vulnerable people can access jabs.
The Foreign Office said more than 160 million people around the world are at risk of being excluded from vaccines because of instability and conflict, in countries including Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia.
Ahead of the UNSC meeting, the Secretary of State said: “Global vaccination coverage is essential to beating coronavirus. That is why the UK is calling for a vaccination ceasefire to allow Covid-19 vaccines to reach people living in conflict zones and for a greater global team effort to deliver equitable access.
“We have a moral duty to act and a strategic necessity to come together to defeat this virus,” he declared.
Ceasefires have been used to vaccinate vulnerable people in war-torn countries in the past, including in Afghanistan, where a two-day pause in fighting in 2001 enabled the vaccination of 5.7m children under five against polio.
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