Vaccine must be global public good: Philippines leader

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Any possible COVID-19 vaccine must be made available for all people without any discrimination, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

“A COVID-19 vaccine must be considered a global public good,” Duterte told the ongoing 75th General Assembly, held virtually due to the pandemic.

On tensions over the South China Sea, Korean Peninsula, and Middle East, Duterte urged all parties against hate.

“If we can’t be friends, let us not hate each other too much,” he said.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, he said, “geo-political tensions continue to rise,” mostly impacting smaller nations.

“When elephants fight, it is the grass that is trampled,” he said.

Duterte also urged the member states to forge “stronger cooperation” on the issue of migrants.

“We need stronger cooperation on safeguarding rights of migrants amid COVID-19,” he asserted.

“COVID-19 is the biggest test of the world that the United Nations has faced since World War II.”