A patient receives a Covid-19 vaccine in Ivory Coast, which welcomed its first batch of vaccines from the Covax programme in February. Many low and middle-income countries have yet to receive doses. AP
A patient receives a Covid-19 vaccine in Ivory Coast, which welcomed its first batch of vaccines from the Covax programme in February. Many low and middle-income countries have yet to receive doses. AP
A patient receives a Covid-19 vaccine in Ivory Coast, which welcomed its first batch of vaccines from the Covax programme in February. Many low and middle-income countries have yet to receive doses. AP
A patient receives a Covid-19 vaccine in Ivory Coast, which welcomed its first batch of vaccines from the Covax programme in February. Many low and middle-income countries have yet to receive doses. A

Lebanon leads UN drive for vaccine sharing


James Reinl
  • English
  • Arabic

The UN on Friday backed a Lebanese effort to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are available everywhere and that rich countries do not keep supplies to themselves, leaving poor countries unable to import shots.

The 193-nation UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding political declaration on fair access to Covid-19 vaccines with support from 180 countries. The initiative was proposed by the delegation from Lebanon, which has struggled to import enough shots.

Beirut’s UN ambassador Amal Mudallali said fewer than 55,000 people in Lebanon had received the needed two doses of vaccine out of a population of five million, which has swelled due to inflows of Syrian refugees.

“But Lebanon is one of the lucky ones who received vaccines,” said Ms Mudallali.

“Some countries are still waiting for their shipments and their situation is grimmer with rising infections and not a single dose of vaccine administered.”

Of all the Covid-19 vaccine shots administered globally, 56 per cent have gone into the arms of people in rich countries while only 0.1 per cent have been administered in the world's 29 poorest nations, said Ms Mudallali.

Ghana and Ivory Coast in February became the first countries to receive Covid-19 shots under the global Covax vaccine-sharing programme, designed to help poor and middle-income countries gain access to the sought-after vaccines.

The programme, backed by the World Health Organisation and Gavi vaccine alliance, has so far distributed 31 million doses to 57 countries, although the rates lag behind richer countries.

The initiative aims to secure 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021 but it has struggled to raise enough money. The political declaration adopted on Friday called for “full funding” of the programme.

“The current picture of vaccine roll out in the world is very worrying,” Ms Mudallali told the UN.

“It is slow and skewed in favour of those with the means, technology and health infrastructure to roll it out successfully. The gap between those who have access to vaccines and those who do not is striking.”

Volkan Bozkir, president of the UN General Assembly, said countries were uniting against the “global issue of our time”.

“Over the past year, we have seen countries and companies from across the world come together to invest in, develop and bring to market multiple proven vaccines,” said Mr Bozkir.

“We have shared personal protective equipment, critical life-saving knowledge and resources to help overcome broad and unprecedented socio-economic impacts.”

Hopes are high that the global distribution of vaccines will this year turn the tide on the pandemic, which has infected 126 million people, claimed some 2.8 million lives and shuttered economies since it was first discovered in China at the end of 2019.

Gifts exchanged
  • King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
  • Queen Camilla -  Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
  • Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
  • Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
Three ways to boost your credit score

Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:

1. Make sure you make your payments on time;

2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;

3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.

While you're here
Five films to watch

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Only Yesterday (1991)

Pom Poki (1994)

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)

The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000

Engine 3.6L V6

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm

Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

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The line up

Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego  

Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh  

Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5
If you go

The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.

The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.

Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis

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Sly%20Cooper%20and%20the%20Thievius%20Raccoonus
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The low down

Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films

Director: Namrata Singh Gujral

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark

Rating: 2/5