<p class="bodytext">The World Health Organization on Thursday warned against "vaccine nationalism," saying vaccine-hogging richer countries would not be safe coronavirus havens if poor nations remained exposed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it would be in wealthier nations' interests to ensure that any vaccines eventually produced to protect against the new coronavirus were shared globally.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Vaccine nationalism is not good, it will not help us," Tedros told the Aspen Security Forum in the United States, via video-link from the WHO's headquarters in Geneva.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For the world to recover faster, it has to recover together, because it's a globalised world: the economies are intertwined. Part of the world or a few countries cannot be a safe haven and recover.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The damage from COVID-19 could be less when those countries who... have the funding commit to this."</p>.<p class="bodytext">He said the existence of the deadly respiratory disease anywhere put lives and livelihoods at risk everywhere.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They are not giving charity to others: they are doing it for themselves, because when the rest of the world recovers and opens up, they also benefit."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The United Nations health agency also said that multiple different types of vaccines would likely be needed to combat COVID-19.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Twenty-six candidate vaccines are in various stages of being tested on humans, with six having reached Phase 3 wider levels of clinical trials.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Phase 3 doesn't mean nearly there," explained the WHO's emergencies director Michael Ryan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Phase 3 means this is the first time this vaccine has been put into the general population, into otherwise healthy individuals, to see if the vaccine will protect them against natural infection.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We've got a good range of products across a number of different platforms, across a number of different countries," he said of the leading candidate vaccines, which use different methods to provide immunity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, "there's no guarantee that any of these six will give us the answer -- and we probably will need more than one vaccine to do this job."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The novel coronavirus has killed over 708,000 people and infected more than 18.8 million since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The Americas remain the current epicentre of the virus and have been particularly hit hard," said Tedros, with the United States, Brazil and Mexico suffering the most deaths.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Asked about the virus raging in the Americas, Ryan said no country had always found all the right answers, and a vast expansion of the public health workforce was required.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We need to take a step back, we need to look at the problem again and we need to go at the problem again," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That requires strong, sustained and trusted leadership."</p>.<p class="bodytext">US President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of being a "puppet" of China and mismanaging its handling of the global pandemic.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Washington last month handed in its 12-month notice to leave the WHO, depriving the UN organisation of its biggest donor.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tedros said the biggest "problem" with the US departure was "not about the money" but the fracture in international solidarity in fighting the virus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We hope the US will reconsider its position," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Ethiopian former health minister claimed any problems Washington had with the WHO could be resolved without the US leaving.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I hope the relationship will return to normal and be a stronger relationship than ever before," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I urge all leaders to choose the path of cooperation... it's the only choice we have."</p>
<p class="bodytext">The World Health Organization on Thursday warned against "vaccine nationalism," saying vaccine-hogging richer countries would not be safe coronavirus havens if poor nations remained exposed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it would be in wealthier nations' interests to ensure that any vaccines eventually produced to protect against the new coronavirus were shared globally.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Vaccine nationalism is not good, it will not help us," Tedros told the Aspen Security Forum in the United States, via video-link from the WHO's headquarters in Geneva.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For the world to recover faster, it has to recover together, because it's a globalised world: the economies are intertwined. Part of the world or a few countries cannot be a safe haven and recover.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The damage from COVID-19 could be less when those countries who... have the funding commit to this."</p>.<p class="bodytext">He said the existence of the deadly respiratory disease anywhere put lives and livelihoods at risk everywhere.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They are not giving charity to others: they are doing it for themselves, because when the rest of the world recovers and opens up, they also benefit."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The United Nations health agency also said that multiple different types of vaccines would likely be needed to combat COVID-19.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Twenty-six candidate vaccines are in various stages of being tested on humans, with six having reached Phase 3 wider levels of clinical trials.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Phase 3 doesn't mean nearly there," explained the WHO's emergencies director Michael Ryan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Phase 3 means this is the first time this vaccine has been put into the general population, into otherwise healthy individuals, to see if the vaccine will protect them against natural infection.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We've got a good range of products across a number of different platforms, across a number of different countries," he said of the leading candidate vaccines, which use different methods to provide immunity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, "there's no guarantee that any of these six will give us the answer -- and we probably will need more than one vaccine to do this job."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The novel coronavirus has killed over 708,000 people and infected more than 18.8 million since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The Americas remain the current epicentre of the virus and have been particularly hit hard," said Tedros, with the United States, Brazil and Mexico suffering the most deaths.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Asked about the virus raging in the Americas, Ryan said no country had always found all the right answers, and a vast expansion of the public health workforce was required.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We need to take a step back, we need to look at the problem again and we need to go at the problem again," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That requires strong, sustained and trusted leadership."</p>.<p class="bodytext">US President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of being a "puppet" of China and mismanaging its handling of the global pandemic.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Washington last month handed in its 12-month notice to leave the WHO, depriving the UN organisation of its biggest donor.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tedros said the biggest "problem" with the US departure was "not about the money" but the fracture in international solidarity in fighting the virus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We hope the US will reconsider its position," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Ethiopian former health minister claimed any problems Washington had with the WHO could be resolved without the US leaving.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I hope the relationship will return to normal and be a stronger relationship than ever before," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I urge all leaders to choose the path of cooperation... it's the only choice we have."</p>