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The benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are still “largely positive” and outweigh risk of rare but serious blood clots, according to an official with the World Health Organization (WHO), speaking on Tuesday during the agency’s regular press briefing from Geneva. 

Dr Rogério  Pinto de Sá Gaspar, Director for Regulation and Prequalification, was responding to a journalist’s question regarding links between the vaccine and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, a rare blood clotting syndrome. 

The aim of the UN-backed COVAX scheme is to get two billion vaccine doses into the arms of around a quarter of the population of poorer countries by the end of 2021. What are the main challenges that need to be overcome, if this historic global effort is to be achieved?

The COVID crisis "has revealed how unequal our societies are” said the UN chief in his message for World Health Day released on Monday.

Highlighting the inequalities and injustices that have been apparent throughout the pandemic, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the day to be marked on Wednesday, that the vast majority of vaccine doses administered so far, have been confined to “a few wealthy countries” or those producing the shots cleared for distribution.

The United Nations Secretary-General has called on the international community to recommit to the target of a mine-free world, urging efforts to “make this the last decade when we need to devote ourselves to this task”. 

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Ms. Joanna Wronecka of Poland as his new Special Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations Office of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL). 

The world needs “a major breakthrough” to slow the pace of climate change and build resilience to protect the most vulnerable from increasingly severe and frequent climate impacts, the deputy UN chief told a crucial high-level meeting on Wednesday, looking ahead to November’s COP26. 

Climate change and loss of biodiversity is seen as the most pressing challenge over the decade, according to the World in 2030 Survey report published on Wednesday by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 

More than 15,000 people worldwide contributed to the survey, which was held online between May and September 2020, and made available in 25 languages.  

Ending the war in Syria is the collective responsibility of the international community, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reaffirmed during a major pledging event on Tuesday which raised $6.4 billion to support people affected by the  conflict.

A group of world leaders have joined the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in calling for an international treaty to improve pandemic preparedness and response in the wake of COVID-19, for the sake of future generations. 

The report from a team of international scientists assembled by the World Health Organization (WHO) to examine how COVID-19 first spread to humans was published on Tuesday, and was described by the UN health agency’s chief as a welcome start, but far from conclusive.

“This report is a very important beginning, but it is not the end”, said WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We have not yet found the source of the virus, and we must continue to follow the science and leave no stone unturned as we do.”