【ICDPASO】Virus Variant DELTA Has Been Spreading Widely Around the World, and International Organizations Have Made Great Contributions to the Fight Against the Pandemic

1. Key Concerns

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, international organizations have made outstanding contributions to the fight against the disease in various countries (regions). For example, from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, the Word Bank deployed more than $157 billion to combat the severe economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, including supporting countries to respond to health emergencies, strengthening health systems, protecting poor and vulnerable people, supporting businesses, creating jobs and initiating a green, resilient and inclusive recovery.

With the wide spread of the virus variant DELTA, the equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more and more significant. On July 26, 2021, WB and WHO announced to establish a new financing mechanism, in order to accelerate the acquirement of COVID-19 vaccine in developing countries. This mechanism will alleviate the demand of vaccine in these countries and reduce the financing risk and uncertainty.

2. Briefing on COVID-19 Pandemic

According to WHO statistics, calculated numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths reached 198,234,951 and 4,227,359 by August 2, 2021. The U.S., India, Indonesia, Brazil and Iran were the five countries (regions) with the highest number of new confirmed cases in the past seven days. Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, India and Mexico were the five countries (regions) with the highest number of new deaths in the past seven days.

As DELTA becoming the major virus variant spreading around the world, confirmed cases increase greatly in many Asia-Pacific countries (regions). Tedros Adhanom, General Secretary of WHO, argued that the wide spread of DELTA has a damaging effect on the hard-earned gains made by countries (regions) in the fight against pandemic.

The spread of the virus variant DELTA highlights the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine and it is extremely urgent to increase the vaccine coverage in undeveloped countries (regions). Statistics from Our World In Data, an online research site of University of Oxford, presented that 4,178,263,936 doses had been administered by August 1, 2021. Researches indicated that the virus variant DELTA may be more than twice as transmissible as the original COVID-19 strain. However, WHO presented that the current approved COVID-19 vaccine is still effective against the virus variant DELTA. As a result, enhancing the vaccine coverage is of vital importance. Report on the Global Use of COVID-19 Vaccines, released by Boao Forum for Asia, presented that the global vaccination had a severe uneven distribution, with low coverage in undeveloped countries. Therefore, how to improve the accessibility and the affordability of COVID-19 vaccine in developing and undeveloped countries is the most prominent problem that the international community is facing in the fight against the pandemic.

3. Measures Taken for Pandemic Restriction

Many countries (regions) generally took stricter measures to prevent the pandemic in response to the wide spread of the virus variant DELTA. Tokyo, Japan, has further expanded the scope of the state of emergency and the Olympic Games organizers have taken stricter restrictive measures for athletes and related staff; Vietnam has imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people in Ho Chi Minh City and other 18 cities in the south of the country; Thailand and the Philippines have extended curfews and other measures; Washington, D.C., has reintroduced a mask order requiring people aged two years old and above to wear masks in indoor public places, regardless of whether they have received the COVID-19 vaccine or not; Nevada, Minnesota, Kansas also recently re-implemented the mask order.