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World Health Organization's response to the COVID-19 pandemic

January 01, 1970

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a leading organisation involved in the global coordination for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic within the broader United Nations response to the pandemic.

World Health Organization representatives holding joint meeting with Tehran city administrators in March 2020

On 5 January 2020, the WHO notified the world about a "pneumonia of unknown cause" in China and subsequently began investigating the disease. On 20 January, the WHO confirmed human-to-human transmission of the disease. On 30 January, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and warned all countries. On 11 March, the WHO said the outbreak constituted a pandemic. By 5 October of the same year, the WHO estimated that a tenth of the world's population had been infected with the novel virus.[1]

The WHO has spearheaded several initiatives, such as the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, to raise money for the pandemic response, the UN COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force, and the solidarity trial for investigating potential treatment options for the disease. The COVAX program, co-led by the WHO, Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.[2]

The WHO's handling of the initial outbreak required a "diplomatic balancing act" between member states, in particular between the United States and China.[3][4][5] On 27 August 2020, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that an independent expert committee would be established to examine various aspects of the international treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies.[6] A WHO-led international mission arrived in China in January 2021 to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and released preliminary findings the following month.[7][8]

Background edit

The World Health Organization has provided state-endorsed guidance and has set norms and standards on outbreak preparedness and responses. This was by its role of providing guidance and assisting with coordination in controlling the international spread of diseases. However, the WHO does not have the power to legally enforce its recommendations.[9]

Timeline edit

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

December 2019 edit

  • On 30 December 2019, the WHO obtained a Chinese report about seven or more cases of atypical pneumonia.[3]
  • On 31 December 2019, authorities in China reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause.[10] Taiwan's CDC emailed the WHO a few hours later, restating the earlier Chinese report and requesting more information.[3]

January 2020 edit

  • On 1 January 2020, the WHO set up the Incident Management Support Team for dealing with the disease outbreak on an emergency basis.[11]
  • On 5 January 2020, the WHO notified all member states about the new outbreak of an unknown pneumonia virus in the Hubei province of China.[10][12]
  • On 10 January, the WHO issued a comprehensive package of guidance to countries on how to test for potential cases.[12] By this date, the WHO warned of the risk of human-to-human transmission.[13][14]
  • On 12 January, Chinese scientists shared the genetic sequence of the new virus,[15] and the WHO asked a German team to design a test.[16]
  • On 13 January, the WHO confirmed the first case of the disease outside of China, in Thailand.[17]
  • On 14 January, Maria Van Kerkhove, an American infectious disease epidemiologist of the WHO, told in a press briefing that "it is possible that there is limited human-to-human transmission, potentially among families, but it is very clear right now that we have no sustained human-to-human transmission"[18][19][20] WHO recommended countries to take precautions due to the precedent of human-to-human transmission set during earlier SARS and MERS outbreaks.[13][14] On the same day, the WHO's Twitter account stated that "preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission".[21]
  • On 20 January, the WHO tweeted that it was "now very clear from the latest information that there is at least some human-to-human transmission" that has occurred, given that healthcare workers had been infected.[22]
  • On 22 January, the WHO issued a statement disclosing that the data "suggests that human-to-human transmission is taking place in Wuhan", and called for more investigation.[23]
  • On 22 January, an emergency committee was convened to assess whether the outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The committee could not reach a consensus.[24]
  • On 27 January, the WHO assessed the risk of the outbreak to be "high at the global level".[25]
  • On 30 January, the emergency committee reconvened and advised that the outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. WHO warned that "all countries should be prepared for containment".[14][26]

February 2020 edit

  • On 3 February, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was no need to "unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade" in trying to control COVID-19. He said, "We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent." At the time, China was "facing increasing international isolation due to restrictions on flights to and from the country, and bans on travellers from China".[27][28][29] WHO's long-standing policy was that travel restrictions are generally ineffective and can be counter-productive.[30]
  • On 12 February, a Research and Innovation Forum was convened by the WHO, which included researchers and funders, to fund priority research for stopping the outbreak and preventing future outbreaks.[31]
  • From 16 to 24 February, the WHO–China Joint Mission travelled to China and created a report about the evolution of the outbreak in China.[32]

March 2020 edit

  • On 2 March, WHO Director-General Tedros announced that containment of the virus must still be the international top priority.[33]
  • On 3 March, the WHO released a Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to help protect countries with weaker health systems.[34] The WHO Director-General stated that the latest global death rate of the new coronavirus outbreak, 3.4%, was far higher than the seasonal flu which has a rate of less than 1%.[35] The WHO also announced a severe shortage of personal protective equipment due to panic buying and hoarding, which was endangering medical workers.[36]
  • On 6 March, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the agency was working with the World Economic Forum to engage private companies globally in meeting the demand for medical products.[37]
  • On 7 March, the WHO stated that the global number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, had surpassed 100,000, calling it a "sombre moment".[38]
  • On 9 March, the WHO and ICAO published a reminder statement to caution against the breach of the 2005 International Health Regulations.[39]
  • On 11 March, the WHO confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 as a pandemic. The Director-General of the WHO called on governments to change their course by taking "urgent and aggressive action".[40]
  • On 12 March, the WHO stated that the COVID-19 pandemic could be controlled if countries took the pandemic seriously. This came after some countries did not take adequate measures to slow transmission, and also after the WHO had stated the outbreak had not reached the status of a pandemic.[41][42][43]
  • On 13 March, the WHO launched COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to support their work in containing the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic.[44]
  • On 16 March, the WHO issued advice on 'Five Things You Should Know Now about the COVID-19 Pandemic'[45] and on safeguarding mental health during the pandemic,[46] while the WHO Director-General "blasted" the slow virus testing response and stressed, "Once again, our message is: test, test, test."[47]
  • On 18 March, the WHO launched the Solidarity Trial, an international clinical trial to find an effective treatment for coronavirus disease.[48][49][50]
  • On 19 March, the WHO Director-General reported that China had reported no new domestic cases and stated that the WHO was working to ensure the supply chain for protective equipment and tests.[51]
  • On 20 March, the Director-General announced the 'tragic milestone' of 200,000 reported cases of COVID-19.[52]
  • On 23 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) and international football's governing body, FIFA, launched a joint campaign, 'Pass the Message to Kick Out Coronavirus'.[53]
  • On 30 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterates the recommendation of not wearing face masks unless they are sick with COVID-19 or caring for someone who is sick.[54]

April 2020 edit

  • On 1 April, the WHO reported that deaths from COVID-19 had more than doubled in the previous week and would soon reach 50,000 globally, with the global caseload heading towards one million.[55]
  • On 3 April, the WHO announced that it would work together with UNICEF on COVID-19 response through the Solidarity Response Fund. In a joint statement, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration, the UN human rights office (OHCHR), and the World Health Organization stressed that "refugees, migrants and displaced persons are at heightened risk of contracting the new coronavirus disease" as health systems threatened to be overwhelmed.[56]
  • By 7 April the WHO had accepted two diagnostic tests for procurement under the Emergency Use Listing procedure (EUL) for use during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to increase access to quality-assured, accurate tests for the disease.[57] On World Health Day, the WHO and UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the work of the world's medical professionals and urged greater support for nurses and other frontline workers, as well as concern over the lack of personal protective equipment and intimidation and threats.[58]
  • On 8 April, the WHO warned that the number of COVID-19 cases in Africa had now increased to over 10,000, with over 500 dead.[59] Responding to criticism, the WHO Director-General warned against politicizing COVID-19 as unity is the "only option" to defeat the pandemic, emphasizing, "please quarantine politicizing COVID".[60] He outlined five main reasons why countries need the WHO.[61] UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged global support for the WHO, describing the UN health agency, which has led the multilateral response since the beginning, as "absolutely critical" in overcoming COVID-19.[62]
  • 9 April marked the 100th day since the WHO was notified of the first cases of 'pneumonia of unknown cause' in China. The Director General reported that the WHO would release an updated strategy for fighting the pandemic.[63] WHO launched the UN COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force to scale up the supply of life-saving products for COVID-19.[64]
  • On 10 April, the WHO Director-General laid out six factors for consideration when lifting lockdowns, including that transmission is controlled and sufficient public health and medical services are available.[65]
  • On 13 April, the Director-General of the WHO outlined the agency's latest advice, stressing a mix of social distancing, testing, contact tracing, and isolation.[66] The WHO, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and other health partners supporting the Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI) warned that over 117 million children in 37 countries risked missing out on a measles vaccine.[67]
  • On 14 April, The first of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and WHO "Solidarity Flights" carried urgently needed medical equipment to Africa, part of a UN-wide initiative.[68]
  • On 15 April, The Director-General of the WHO stated it was reviewing the impact of the United States withholding funding and upheld the importance of international solidarity in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic one day after the US announced that it was cutting funding, pending a review of how the WHO responded to the initial outbreak in China.[69] The WHO warned of a potential "second wave" of COVID-19 infections in an update to its strategic advice to governments, as some European countries began to relax lockdown measures.[70]
  • On 19 April, the Director-General of the WHO urged the G20 leading global economies to plan to ease lockdowns against COVID-19 only as part of "a phased process".[71]
  • On 20 April, the WHO reiterated its stance on the lifting of lockdown measures, stating, "We want to re-emphasize that easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country".[72] The heads of multiple major UN humanitarian agencies and offices, including the WHO, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), launched an urgent appeal for $350 million to support global aid hubs to help those vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic.[73]
  • On 22 April, the Director-General of the WHO warned against 'complacency' as countries continue to battle COVID-19 and citizens grew weary of stay-at-home measures.[74]
  • On 23 April, WHO accidentally posted draft reports of results from COVID-19 trials in China, which were then removed from the website.[75] Financial Times published an article on the findings,[76] and Gilead Sciences released a statement saying that "the study investigators did not provide permission for the publication of the results. Furthermore, we believe the post included inappropriate characterizations of the study." Gilead indicated that there were plans to publish the data in a peer-reviewed outlet.[77]
  • On 24 April, WHO released a scientific brief arguing against immunity passports due to insufficient evidence.[78] They also launched the Access to COVID-19 tools accelerator, a collaboration to accelerate the development and production of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for COVID-19.[79]
  • On 27 April, the WHO warned about the pandemic's impact on health services, especially for children, particularly vaccination.[80]
  • On 28 April, the WHO launched a major UN-led initiative to secure supplies of key medical equipment for 135 low to medium-income countries responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.[81]
  • On 30 April, the third meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director-General, agreed that the pandemic still constitutes a PHEIC.[82]

May 2020 edit

  • On 1 May, international experts on the COVID-19 Emergency Committee advised the WHO to work to identify the animal origins of the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic and its transmission to humans.[83]
  • On 4 May, the WHO welcomed a 7.4 billion Euro pledge by world leaders for COVID-19 treatments,[84] while the UN Secretary-General warned that five times that amount would be required, urging the "most massive public health effort in history".[85]
  • On 6 May, the Director-General of the WHO reported that, since the start of April, an average of 80,000 cases of COVID-19 per day had been reported to the WHO.[86]
  • On 8 May, the Director-General of the WHO stated that the lessons learned from the eradication of smallpox four decades previously could be applied to the coronavirus pandemic.[87]
  • On 11 May, the WHO Director-General warned the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, China and Germany followed the lifting of stay-at-home restrictions, indicating their complexity.[88]
  • On 18–19 May, the 73rd World Health Assembly was held online. Australia and the EU tabled a seven-page motion which was supported by over 120 delegations.[89] The Australian delegation hardened the tone of the original European text, to include the qualifiers "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation",[90] to the text of OP9.10 "as appropriate, to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19", "using existing mechanisms (including an IHR Review Committee and the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme)". The motion was supported by China but not by the United States,[91] and passed by the WHA with unanimity. The final motion calls for the review to be coordinated by the WHO itself.[90]
  • On 21 May, the WHO and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) signed a new pact, an update, and expansion of a 1997 agreement, funded by the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, to better protect approximately 70 million people affected by COVID-19 in low and middle-income countries with vulnerable health systems.[92]
  • On 22 May, the Director-General of the WHO reiterated that the COVID-19 pandemic was disrupting access to routine immunization services worldwide, increasing the risk of potentially lethal diseases like diphtheria, measles, and pneumonia.[93]
  • On 27 May, the WHO Foundation, an independent body, was launched to help fund the WHO as "an integral part of the UN agency's resource mobilization strategy to broaden its donor base".[94]
  • On 29 May, thirty countries and multiple international partners signed up to support the WHO-backed COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), a "one-stop shop" for sharing data, intellectual property, and scientific knowledge to counter the disease.[95]

June 2020 edit

  • On 1 June, the WHO published research finding that the fight against COVID-19 had severely disrupted services to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, which kill over 40 million people each year.[96] Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO Executive Director, highlighted that Central and South America were now 'intense zones' for COVID-19 transmission.[97]
  • On 3 June, on World Bicycle Day, the WHO highlighted the potential for bicycles to transform the way the world moves around and create a healthier, more sustainable future after the pandemic.[98]
  • On 5 June, the WHO recommended mask-wearing for members of the public, a change from their previous recommendations, on the basis of increased evidence. The organization still had reservations, though, and cautioned that mask use by the general public was still "not yet supported by high quality or direct scientific evidence".[99]
  • On 8 June, the WHO warned that the COVID-19 pandemic was worsening globally, with more than 136,000 cases recorded on 7 June, the highest ever in a single day.[100]
  • On 10 June, the WHO reported that research was continuing to determine how the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted by people who show no symptoms of the disease (asymptomatic transmission).[101]
  • On 11 June, the WHO Africa regional office warned that COVID-19 was accelerating in Africa, with more than 200,000 cases and more than 5,600 deaths.[102]
  • On 12 June, the WHO warned about the pandemic's impact on women, children, and young people as it continued to escalate.[103]
  • On 15 June, the WHO Director-General emphasized the risk of the southern hemisphere influenza season, as "Co-circulation of COVID-19 and influenza can worsen the impact on health systems that are already overwhelmed".[104]
  • On 17 June, the WHO welcomed early results on the use of dexamethasone in the sickest COVID-19 patients, while warning it is 'no cure-all'.[105]
  • On 19 June, the WHO warned that the world was entering "a new and dangerous phase" of the COVID-19 pandemic, as infection rates continued to climb and over 150,000 new cases of the disease were reported the previous day, the highest single daily total to date.[106]
  • On 22 June, the WHO reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases over 21 June, registering more than 183,000 new infections in 24 hours, with approximately 8.8 million cases in total worldwide, with more than 465,000 deaths.[107]
  • On 24 June, the WHO Director-General warned that the world was on track to reach 10 million coronavirus cases within the next week, a "sober reminder" that as research continues into therapeutics and vaccines, maximum efforts were required immediately to suppress transmission and save lives.[108]
  • On 26 June, the WHO and partners warned that more than $31 billion would be needed over the next year to develop effective medicines for COVID-19, and to make them globally available to all people.[109]

July 2020 edit

  • On 1 July, the Director-General stated that some nations battling the COVID-19 pandemic who had been taking a "fragmented approach" to suppressing the deadly virus, "face a long, hard road ahead".[110]
  • On July 7, the WHO announced that it would shortly issue a brief on the modes of transmission of the new coronavirus, including the matter of airborne transmission.[111]
  • On July 10, the WHO announced that COVID-19 cases globally had more than doubled in the previous six weeks, reaching 12 million.[112]
  • On 14 July, in response to a press question, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, called for the issue of school reopenings to be decided as part of comprehensive, data-driven COVID-19 public health strategies, rather than politically driven decision-making processes.[113]
  • On 15 July, the WHO and UNICEF called for immediate efforts to vaccinate all children in order to avoid the pandemic worsening access, a problem affecting over 100 countries.[114]
  • On 20 July, with Latin America now being the epicentre of the pandemic, the WHO expressed concern at COVID-19's impact on indigenous people in the Americas.[115]
  • On 23 July, as global cases topped 15 million, the Director-General of the WHO urged people to play their part in preventing the further spread of the pandemic, warning of no return to "the old normal".[116]
  • On 27 July, the WHO urged all countries to make the necessary "hard choices" in order to avoid a new wave of lockdowns and beat the pandemic, as it announced nearly 16 million cases of reported infection worldwide and over 640,000 deaths.[117]
  • On 29 July, the WHO stated that the first wave of COVID-19 was still continuing and that the virus was likely not impacted by seasonal changes like other respiratory diseases; it also urged significantly more respect for physical distancing measures to prevent the virus's transmission.[118]
  • On 30 July, the Director-General of the WHO warned that, while older people were among those at highest risk of COVID-19, younger generations are "not invincible".[119]

August 2020 edit

  • On 3 August, the WHO's Emergency Committee on COVID-19 met to review the current coronavirus pandemic at what the Director-General called "a sobering moment" due to the pandemic's massive direct and ripple effects, with a warning of "no silver bullet".[120]
  • On 5 August, the WHO reported that a new "surge team" of leading UN health experts was traveling to South Africa to help with the COVID-19 response there, as the country was now among the top five of the world's most affected countries.[121]
  • On 6 August, addressing the Aspen Security Forum, consisting of top-level present and former United States government officials, the WHO's Director-General appealed to countries to unite against the disease, stressing that there were more than 18.5 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 700,000 deaths.[122]
  • On 13 August, the Director-General stated that the agency's main mission was now "focused on shepherding global vaccine candidates through the necessary trials", then "guaranteeing rapid, fair and equitable access" to vaccines for every country.[123]
  • On 18 August, the WHO's Director-General warned against "vaccine nationalism" in the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that he had written to UN Member States, urging them to join the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility, a mechanism to guarantee fair access to effective immunization for all countries.[124]
  • On 20 August, the WHO and UNICEF, citing research, urged African governments to promote a safe return of schoolchildren to classrooms while limiting the spread of COVID-19.[125]
  • On 24 August, the WHO urged greater investment in the global COVID-19 vaccine facility, the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility, in which 172 countries are now participating and which aims to deliver two billion doses in 2021.[126]
  • On 25 August, the WHO announced only a slim possibility of COVID-19 reinfection, citing documented cases of 1 in over 23 million.[127]
  • On 27 August, the WHO announced the setting up of an independent expert Review Committee to examine aspects of the international treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies in order to prepare for future pandemics.[128]
  • On 31 August, the WHO Director-General warned that kickstarting economies without a COVID-19 plan was "a recipe for disaster", while advising on the measures that individuals, communities, and governments, communities could take to ensure safety.[129]

September 2020 edit

  • On 4 September, the WHO announced that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused massive global disruption in diagnosing and treating people with deadly but preventable diseases, including over half of cancer patients.[130]
  • On 7 September, the Director-General announced that the Review Committee of the International Health Regulations, designed to prepare for the next pandemic, is commencing its work, as he urged more investment in public health.[131]
  • On 18 September, the Director-General presented the second report of the WHO and World Bank-backed Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, A World in Disorder, which recommends developing "muscle memory", i.e., repetition, as a "key to pandemic response".[132]
  • On 21 September, the Director-General unveiled the Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), part of the ACT Accelerator, to deliver two billion doses of coronavirus vaccine globally by the end of 2021.[133]
  • On 25 September, the WHO revised its guidelines to recommend countries prioritize the elderly and health workers In the face of a potential global shortage of influenza vaccines and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[134]

October 2020 edit

  • On 2 October, the Director-General wished both President Trump and the First Lady of the United States, "a full and swift recovery" and called for strong leadership and comprehensive strategies so that countries could "change the trendlines of the COVID-19 pandemic".[135]
  • On 5 October, the WHO estimated that 10% of the world's population may have been infected with coronavirus, with 10 countries accounting for 70% of all reported cases and mortality, and only three countries accounting for half.[136] The WHO also announced survey results showing that the pandemic has interrupted essential mental health services in 93% of countries surveyed.[137]
  • On 10 October, as infections rapidly rose in the Americans and in Europe, the WHO rejected the concept of "herd immunity" through exposure to infection as a solution to the pandemic, describing it as "unethical" and "not an option". He stated, "Herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached". He explained that herd immunity is obtained by protecting people from the virus, "not by exposing them to it". He added, "Letting the virus circulate unchecked, therefore, means allowing unnecessary infections, suffering and death" and that "Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic".[138][139]
  • On 13 October, in a joint statement, the WHO, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the International Labour Organization called for "global solidarity and support, especially with the most vulnerable in our societies" and highlighted that tens of millions of people, especially in the developing world, risk falling into extreme poverty, with nearly half of the global 3.3 billion workforces at risk of losing their jobs.[140]
  • On 15 October, the WHO announced COVID-19 had become the fifth highest cause of death in Europe, with nearly 700,000 cases being reported in the week, the highest rate since March.[141]
  • On 19 October, as COVID-19 cases continued to increase rapidly, particularly in Europe and North America, the Director-General of the WHO warned governments and people globally not to relax, and to protect those hospitalized and front-line workers.[142]

November 2020 edit

  • On 23 November, Tedros warned that the poor must not be left out in the rush for vaccines.[143]

December 2020 edit

In December 2020, it was reported that a WHO-led international mission was expected to travel to China in the first week of January 2021 to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

On 31 December 2020, the World Health Organization granted emergency use listing for the Tozinameran – COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (nucleoside modified) – Comirnaty.[144][145]

January 2021 edit

In January 2021, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had called on China to allow the investigation team in and expressed his dismay after China blocked the arrival of the mission's 10 virologists.[146][147] A few days later, permission was granted for the team to arrive.[148][149][150] Mike Ryan, WHO emergencies chief, said that the purpose of the trip was to find "the answers here that may save us in future - not culprits and not people to blame". A WHO-affiliated health expert said expectations that the team would reach a conclusion from their trip should be "very low".[151] U.S. officials denounced the investigation as a "Potemkin exercise" and criticised the "terms of reference" allowing Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.[152][153] Epidemiologist Fabian Leendertz, who is part of the team, clarified that the mission is a data-based investigation and advised against "Trump style finger-pointing." Leendertz also made clear that the WHO would manage the complex and sensitive relations with China over access issues amid some people's concerns that China might try to obstruct the work.[154]

At the WHO's annual executive board meeting, Tedros warned of a "catastrophic moral failure" if rich countries continued to hoard vaccine supplies at the expense of poor countries, an issue that the WHO's COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme intended to avoid. The COVAX program aims to distribute 2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for free or at a reduced cost by the end of 2021 but has struggled to raise funds to subsidize the costs.[155][156] It was revealed during the meeting that the WHO lacked an adequate financing system after its largest donor, the U.S., announced its planned withdrawal (later canceled) over claims that the organization was heavily influenced by China during the coronavirus pandemic.[155][157]

February 2021 edit

The investigation team released preliminary findings, concluding that COVID-19 likely came from bats.[158]

On 15 February 2021, the World Health Organization authorized two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.[159][160][161]

March 2021 edit

The investigation team released their report, the WHO-convened Global Study of the Origins of SARS-CoV-2, on 30 March. The report found that COVID-19 likely did not originate at Huanan Seafood Market, but that a lab leak origin was "extremely unlikely".[162][163] The report recommended livestock farms in Southeast Asia as a direction for further research on the virus's origins.[163]

The World Health Organization expressed support for a future pandemic treaty to address the problems exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[164][165]

On 12 March 2021, the World Health Organization authorized the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine Ad26.COV2.S for emergency use.[166][167]

April 2021 edit

The World Health Organization encouraged individual donors to contribute to COVAX through the "Go Give One" campaign.[168]

On 30 April 2021, the World Health Organization granted emergency use listing for the Moderna COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (nucleoside modified).[169]

May 2021 edit

On 7 May 2021, the World Health Organization authorized the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine for emergency use.[170]

July 2021 edit

The WHO issued a proposal for the second phase of research into the virus's origins.[171]

October 2021 edit

On 14 October 2021, WHO nominated 26 experts to join the Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO). Michael Ryan said that the task force could be the "last chance to understand the origins" of COVID-19.[172]

November 2021 edit

In a special session of the World Health Assembly, the WHO member states agreed to launch negotiations to draft an international agreement "to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response" (commonly referred to as the pandemic treaty).[173][174] The first official meeting will occur in March 2022 and the aim is to finalize a draft agreement by May 2024 for consideration by the 77th World Health Assembly.[173][174]

December 2021 edit

On 22 December 2021 the WHO issued an update clarifying that COVID-19 disease was low in children and adolescents, and that vaccination in those age groups was not recommended, sparing valuable resources for other populations most in need.[175]

On 23 December 2021, the WHO confirmed that COVID-19 is airborne.[176][177]

May 2023 edit

On May 5, the WHO declared an end to the global COVID-19 emergency.[178]

Initiatives edit

WHO releases daily situation reports and holds press conferences for updating the media about the pandemic.[179] WHO has shipped more than two million items of personal protective equipment and one million diagnostic test kits to over 120 countries.[180] WHO has launched multilingual e-learning courses about various aspects of COVID-19, including for preparedness and response.[181][182] By April 2020, WHO's Solidarity Response Fund had gathered more than US$140 million from more than 200,000 individuals and organizations.[183]

Safe Hands Challenge edit

Safe Hands Challenge, a campaign launched by WHO that urges everyone to wash their hands regularly, saw participation from celebrities.[184] WHO has an active presence on all social media channels, where they work to counter misinformation.[183] In order to counter myths related to COVID-19, WHO has created resources for the public.[185] WHO has partnered with Lady Gaga, who will perform a TV concert for fundraising for health workers. By 7 April, she raised US$35 million for the cause.[186]

Go Give One campaign edit

The WHO Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the "Go Give One" campaign in April 2021, encouraging individual and corporate donations to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for "everyone, everywhere."[187][188] Funds raised are directed to the COVAX AMC managed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.[189][190]

The campaign raised over USD $7 million within the first two months of its launch; $1.5 million of which came from individuals, 27% of which were British donors.[191] In December 2021, Virgin Atlantic, the Pacific Asia Travel Association and Collinson (a travel services company) formed the Global Travel Sector Vaccine Coalition to fundraise on behalf of the travel industry.[192] They were later joined by Priority Pass.[193]

Additional corporate partners of the campaign include Allen & Overy, Benevity, Blue State Digital, Charities Aid Foundation, DFS Group, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, Global Citizen, Mastercard, PagerDuty, Pandemic Action Network, Religions for Peace, Russell Reynolds Associates, Salesforce, Workday and XpresCheck.[187][194][195]

People edit

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General, has been leading the organization's efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.[179] Along with Tedros, Michael J. Ryan, executive director of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme and Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of COVID-19 Response, appear in press conferences at WHO Headquarters in Geneva.[196] The WHO–China Joint Mission in February 2020 was headed by Bruce Aylward of WHO and Wannian Liang of China's National Health Commission.[32]

Reception edit

The WHO's handling of the pandemic has come under criticism amidst what has been described as the agency's "diplomatic balancing act" between "China and China's critics", as ongoing tension between China and the United States creates challenges in controlling the virus.[4] Critics charge the organization with being "too close to Beijing".[16] Former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Japan, Tarō Asō, said that some people have called WHO the "China Health Organization", because of what he described as its close ties to Beijing.[197] Initial concerns included the observation that while the WHO relies upon data provided and filtered by member states, China has had a "historical aversion to transparency and sensitivity to international criticism".[5] In early January, some WHO officials had internal discussions of insufficient information and significant delays in information provided by the Chinese government.[198] Jeremy Youde, a global health politics researcher and dean at the University of Minnesota Duluth, said that WHO officials may have calculated that "naming and shaming" would not get the Chinese government to cooperate, and that instead of highlighting the lack of information sharing, the WHO may have intentionally decided to praise China's efforts and thank Beijing for its cooperation to keep the Chinese government on board and engaged with the WHO.[199]

In response to the criticisms, in mid-February, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom stated that China "doesn't need to be asked to be praised. China has done many good things to slow down the virus. The whole world can judge. There is no spinning here,"[200] and further stated that "I know there is a lot of pressure on WHO when we appreciate what China is doing but because of pressure we should not fail to tell the truth, we don't say anything to appease anyone. It's because it's the truth."[5] Some observers have said WHO is unable to risk antagonizing the Chinese government, as otherwise, the agency would not have been able to stay informed on the domestic state of the outbreak and influence response measures there, after which there would have "likely have been a raft of articles criticizing WHO for needlessly offending China at a time of crisis and hamstringing its own ability to operate."[5] Through this, experts such as Dr. David Nabarro have defended this strategy in order "to ensure Beijing's co-operation in mounting an effective global response to the outbreak".[201] Osman Dar, director of the One Health Project at the Chatham House Centre on Global Health Security defended WHO's conduct, stating that the same pressure was one "that UN organisations have always had from the advanced economies."[202]

In early April, African leaders expressed support for the WHO amid the pandemic, with the African Union saying the organization had done "good work" and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari calling for "global solidarity".[203]

U.S. President Donald Trump praised the WHO early in the outbreak but later criticized the organization's response.[204] On 14 April 2020, he announced that the U.S. would halt funding to WHO while reviewing its role in "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus."[205] A week earlier, at a press briefing, Trump had criticized WHO for "missing the call" on the coronavirus pandemic and had threatened to withhold U.S. funding to the organization; on the same day, he also tweeted a complaint that China benefits disproportionately from WHO, saying that "WHO really blew it."[206] The U.S. Congress had already allocated about $122 million to the WHO for 2020, and Trump had previously proposed in the White House's 2021 budget request to reduce WHO funding to $58 million.[207] Trump's announcement drew condemnation from world leaders and health experts. It came amid constant criticism of his failure to prepare for the outbreak in the U.S., the country worst affected in terms of infection numbers as of April 15, 2020.[208][13] The WHO called the decision "regrettable" and stated that the organization first alerted the world on 5 January when a cluster of 41 cases of atypical pneumonia was singled out from the millions of similar cases that occur every year.[209] American law professor Lawrence O. Gostin said that Trump's decision was "the prime example of why we are in this mess". He said the WHO is hesitant to cause any offense for fear of losing funding.[210]

In April 2020, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that while the Australian government valued the World Health Organization and planned to continue contributing funds, they had "lost faith" in the organization's global headquarters. The Australian government planned to push for the WHO to be given greater power, similar to UN weapons inspectors, to reduce reliance on individual national governments. The Australian government also planned to push for a review of the global handling of the outbreak, including by the WHO.[211]

In May 2020, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that China's paramount leader Xi Jinping had asked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom, in a 21 January phone call, to hold off on issuing a global warning or reporting human-to-human transmission. Citing sources within the German foreign intelligence service Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Der Spiegel said that the world "lost four to six weeks" in the fight against the novel coronavirus as a direct result of China's lack of transparency.[212][213] The WHO denied that Tedros and Xi had spoken on that date and said that the two had never spoken by phone. The WHO also noted that China had already confirmed human-to-human transmission on 20 January.[214] Citing the conflict over Taiwan, Der Spiegel also questioned whether the WHO can be as non-political as what it claims in one of its mottos.[215]

On 19 May 2020, Donald Trump reaffirmed his criticism concerning the WHO's management of COVID-19 in a letter to director-general Tedros Adhanom. The letter was based on a selective version of the pandemic, ignored or glossed over the WHO's clear warnings about the dangers of the contagion, and falsely claimed that Taiwan had warned the WHO of human-to-human transmission on 31 December.[216][3] The Lancet, which was critical of Trump's ongoing WHO aid freeze, rebutted the claim that the WHO had ignored a December 2019 report by the journal, stating its first reports were published on 24 January.[217] Trump threatened to withdraw the United States from WHO if the organization did not "commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days."[216] After 11 days, on May 29, Trump announced plans to cut ties between the United States and WHO,[218][219] though it was unclear whether he had the authority to do so.[220] Trump's successor Joe Biden reversed the decision in January 2021, saying that the WHO "plays a crucial role" in fighting COVID-19 and other public health threats.[221][222]

The WHO has been criticized for not stating that the COVID-19 outbreak was a pandemic until significantly after it had already clearly become one.[223] On 18 January 2021, an independent panel led by Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf criticised the WHO for not declaring an international emergency sooner and called for its reform. The panel questioned why the Emergency Committee of WHO only met in the third week of January 2020, and an international emergency was not declared until its second meeting on January 30. It also criticised China for not applying public health measures more forcefully in January 2020. The report says that "the global pandemic alert system is not fit for purpose" and that the "World Health Organization has been underpowered to do the job."[224]

Norwegian lawmakers nominated the WHO and COVAX for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, for their work to provide COVID-19 vaccines to low-income countries.[225]

The WHO has been criticized for taking two years to say that COVID-19 is airborne.[176][226]

According to Juliette Genevaz, a political scientist specialising in contemporary China, the World Health Organization is considered to take similar lines to the Chinese government's.[227]

Taiwan edit

See also: COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan

The Taiwanese government protested WHO's "very high" risk rating for Taiwan in February 2020, at which time Taiwan had a very small number of cases compared to China.[202] Taiwanese officials and some analysts have said that the exclusion of Taiwan from WHO, on the basis of pressure from China, has increased the risk of Taiwan missing disease-related updates.[228] WHO has responded that Taiwan has been given access to all coronavirus data and information, and said that Taiwanese experts were "involved in all of our consultations ... so they're fully engaged and fully aware of all of the developments in the expert networks."[228] China had previously allowed Taiwan to be an observer at the World Health Assembly before relations deteriorated in 2016.[229] The US President Donald Trump accused the WHO of late response to the pandemic and said that Taiwan sent an email to the WHO on 31 December warning of human-to-human transmission, a claim that The Guardian and the fact-checking website FactCheck.org said was false.[230][231][3] The Taiwanese government said it sent an email on 31 December 2019 to inform the WHO of its understanding of the disease while also requesting further information, including whether it could be transmitted between people. The WHO said the email it received from Taiwan made no mention of human-to-human transmission.[232][233]

International Treaty for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response edit

Main article: International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response

The COVID-19 pandemic stressed the need for a globally coordinated governance response to future outbreaks.[234] In this vein, and to respond to the shortcomings of international health architecture, the multiple WHO member states called for a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response, to "foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics".[235] International expert consultations to support and inform the WHO are underway.[236]

In December 2021, the second special session of the World Health Assembly agreed to begin negotiations to draft such an international agreement.[173]

See also edit

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January 01, 1970
world, health, organization, response, covid, pandemic, parts, this, article, those, related, timeline, need, updated, reason, given, information, from, december, 2021, december, 2022, shut, itself, down, pandemic, please, help, update, this, article, reflect,. Parts of this article those related to Timeline need to be updated The reason given is no information at all from December 2021 to December 2022 The WHO did not shut itself down and the pandemic did not end Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information December 2022 The World Health Organization WHO is a leading organisation involved in the global coordination for mitigating the COVID 19 pandemic within the broader United Nations response to the pandemic World Health Organization representatives holding joint meeting with Tehran city administrators in March 2020 On 5 January 2020 the WHO notified the world about a pneumonia of unknown cause in China and subsequently began investigating the disease On 20 January the WHO confirmed human to human transmission of the disease On 30 January the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and warned all countries On 11 March the WHO said the outbreak constituted a pandemic By 5 October of the same year the WHO estimated that a tenth of the world s population had been infected with the novel virus 1 The WHO has spearheaded several initiatives such as the COVID 19 Solidarity Response Fund to raise money for the pandemic response the UN COVID 19 Supply Chain Task Force and the solidarity trial for investigating potential treatment options for the disease The COVAX program co led by the WHO Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations CEPI aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID 19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world 2 The WHO s handling of the initial outbreak required a diplomatic balancing act between member states in particular between the United States and China 3 4 5 On 27 August 2020 WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that an independent expert committee would be established to examine various aspects of the international treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies 6 A WHO led international mission arrived in China in January 2021 to investigate the origins of the COVID 19 pandemic and released preliminary findings the following month 7 8 Contents 1 Background 2 Timeline 2 1 December 2019 2 2 January 2020 2 3 February 2020 2 4 March 2020 2 5 April 2020 2 6 May 2020 2 7 June 2020 2 8 July 2020 2 9 August 2020 2 10 September 2020 2 11 October 2020 2 12 November 2020 2 13 December 2020 2 14 January 2021 2 15 February 2021 2 16 March 2021 2 17 April 2021 2 18 May 2021 2 19 July 2021 2 20 October 2021 2 21 November 2021 2 22 December 2021 2 23 May 2023 3 Initiatives 3 1 Safe Hands Challenge 3 2 Go Give One campaign 4 People 5 Reception 5 1 Taiwan 6 International Treaty for Pandemic Prevention Preparedness and Response 7 See also 8 ReferencesBackground editThe World Health Organization has provided state endorsed guidance and has set norms and standards on outbreak preparedness and responses This was by its role of providing guidance and assisting with coordination in controlling the international spread of diseases However the WHO does not have the power to legally enforce its recommendations 9 Timeline editFor a chronological guide see Timeline of the COVID 19 pandemic December 2019 edit On 30 December 2019 the WHO obtained a Chinese report about seven or more cases of atypical pneumonia 3 On 31 December 2019 authorities in China reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause 10 Taiwan s CDC emailed the WHO a few hours later restating the earlier Chinese report and requesting more information 3 January 2020 edit On 1 January 2020 the WHO set up the Incident Management Support Team for dealing with the disease outbreak on an emergency basis 11 On 5 January 2020 the WHO notified all member states about the new outbreak of an unknown pneumonia virus in the Hubei province of China 10 12 On 10 January the WHO issued a comprehensive package of guidance to countries on how to test for potential cases 12 By this date the WHO warned of the risk of human to human transmission 13 14 On 12 January Chinese scientists shared the genetic sequence of the new virus 15 and the WHO asked a German team to design a test 16 On 13 January the WHO confirmed the first case of the disease outside of China in Thailand 17 On 14 January Maria Van Kerkhove an American infectious disease epidemiologist of the WHO told in a press briefing that it is possible that there is limited human to human transmission potentially among families but it is very clear right now that we have no sustained human to human transmission 18 19 20 WHO recommended countries to take precautions due to the precedent of human to human transmission set during earlier SARS and MERS outbreaks 13 14 On the same day the WHO s Twitter account stated that preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human to human transmission 21 On 20 January the WHO tweeted that it was now very clear from the latest information that there is at least some human to human transmission that has occurred given that healthcare workers had been infected 22 On 22 January the WHO issued a statement disclosing that the data suggests that human to human transmission is taking place in Wuhan and called for more investigation 23 On 22 January an emergency committee was convened to assess whether the outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern PHEIC The committee could not reach a consensus 24 On 27 January the WHO assessed the risk of the outbreak to be high at the global level 25 On 30 January the emergency committee reconvened and advised that the outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern WHO warned that all countries should be prepared for containment 14 26 February 2020 edit On 3 February World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was no need to unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade in trying to control COVID 19 He said We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence based and consistent At the time China was facing increasing international isolation due to restrictions on flights to and from the country and bans on travellers from China 27 28 29 WHO s long standing policy was that travel restrictions are generally ineffective and can be counter productive 30 On 12 February a Research and Innovation Forum was convened by the WHO which included researchers and funders to fund priority research for stopping the outbreak and preventing future outbreaks 31 From 16 to 24 February the WHO China Joint Mission travelled to China and created a report about the evolution of the outbreak in China 32 March 2020 edit On 2 March WHO Director General Tedros announced that containment of the virus must still be the international top priority 33 On 3 March the WHO released a Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to help protect countries with weaker health systems 34 The WHO Director General stated that the latest global death rate of the new coronavirus outbreak 3 4 was far higher than the seasonal flu which has a rate of less than 1 35 The WHO also announced a severe shortage of personal protective equipment due to panic buying and hoarding which was endangering medical workers 36 On 6 March the Director General of the World Health Organization WHO announced that the agency was working with the World Economic Forum to engage private companies globally in meeting the demand for medical products 37 On 7 March the WHO stated that the global number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus disease COVID 19 had surpassed 100 000 calling it a sombre moment 38 On 9 March the WHO and ICAO published a reminder statement to caution against the breach of the 2005 International Health Regulations 39 On 11 March the WHO confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 as a pandemic The Director General of the WHO called on governments to change their course by taking urgent and aggressive action 40 On 12 March the WHO stated that the COVID 19 pandemic could be controlled if countries took the pandemic seriously This came after some countries did not take adequate measures to slow transmission and also after the WHO had stated the outbreak had not reached the status of a pandemic 41 42 43 On 13 March the WHO launched COVID 19 Solidarity Response Fund to support their work in containing the 2019 20 coronavirus pandemic 44 On 16 March the WHO issued advice on Five Things You Should Know Now about the COVID 19 Pandemic 45 and on safeguarding mental health during the pandemic 46 while the WHO Director General blasted the slow virus testing response and stressed Once again our message is test test test 47 On 18 March the WHO launched the Solidarity Trial an international clinical trial to find an effective treatment for coronavirus disease 48 49 50 On 19 March the WHO Director General reported that China had reported no new domestic cases and stated that the WHO was working to ensure the supply chain for protective equipment and tests 51 On 20 March the Director General announced the tragic milestone of 200 000 reported cases of COVID 19 52 On 23 March the World Health Organization WHO and international football s governing body FIFA launched a joint campaign Pass the Message to Kick Out Coronavirus 53 On 30 March the World Health Organization WHO reiterates the recommendation of not wearing face masks unless they are sick with COVID 19 or caring for someone who is sick 54 April 2020 edit On 1 April the WHO reported that deaths from COVID 19 had more than doubled in the previous week and would soon reach 50 000 globally with the global caseload heading towards one million 55 On 3 April the WHO announced that it would work together with UNICEF on COVID 19 response through the Solidarity Response Fund In a joint statement the UN refugee agency UNHCR the International Organization for Migration the UN human rights office OHCHR and the World Health Organization stressed that refugees migrants and displaced persons are at heightened risk of contracting the new coronavirus disease as health systems threatened to be overwhelmed 56 By 7 April the WHO had accepted two diagnostic tests for procurement under the Emergency Use Listing procedure EUL for use during the COVID 19 pandemic in order to increase access to quality assured accurate tests for the disease 57 On World Health Day the WHO and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres highlighted the work of the world s medical professionals and urged greater support for nurses and other frontline workers as well as concern over the lack of personal protective equipment and intimidation and threats 58 On 8 April the WHO warned that the number of COVID 19 cases in Africa had now increased to over 10 000 with over 500 dead 59 Responding to criticism the WHO Director General warned against politicizing COVID 19 as unity is the only option to defeat the pandemic emphasizing please quarantine politicizing COVID 60 He outlined five main reasons why countries need the WHO 61 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged global support for the WHO describing the UN health agency which has led the multilateral response since the beginning as absolutely critical in overcoming COVID 19 62 9 April marked the 100th day since the WHO was notified of the first cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in China The Director General reported that the WHO would release an updated strategy for fighting the pandemic 63 WHO launched the UN COVID 19 Supply Chain Task Force to scale up the supply of life saving products for COVID 19 64 On 10 April the WHO Director General laid out six factors for consideration when lifting lockdowns including that transmission is controlled and sufficient public health and medical services are available 65 On 13 April the Director General of the WHO outlined the agency s latest advice stressing a mix of social distancing testing contact tracing and isolation 66 The WHO the UN Children s Fund UNICEF and other health partners supporting the Measles amp Rubella Initiative M amp RI warned that over 117 million children in 37 countries risked missing out on a measles vaccine 67 On 14 April The first of the UN s World Food Programme WFP and WHO Solidarity Flights carried urgently needed medical equipment to Africa part of a UN wide initiative 68 On 15 April The Director General of the WHO stated it was reviewing the impact of the United States withholding funding and upheld the importance of international solidarity in tackling the COVID 19 pandemic one day after the US announced that it was cutting funding pending a review of how the WHO responded to the initial outbreak in China 69 The WHO warned of a potential second wave of COVID 19 infections in an update to its strategic advice to governments as some European countries began to relax lockdown measures 70 On 19 April the Director General of the WHO urged the G20 leading global economies to plan to ease lockdowns against COVID 19 only as part of a phased process 71 On 20 April the WHO reiterated its stance on the lifting of lockdown measures stating We want to re emphasize that easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country 72 The heads of multiple major UN humanitarian agencies and offices including the WHO the World Food Programme WFP and the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA launched an urgent appeal for 350 million to support global aid hubs to help those vulnerable during the COVID 19 pandemic 73 On 22 April the Director General of the WHO warned against complacency as countries continue to battle COVID 19 and citizens grew weary of stay at home measures 74 On 23 April WHO accidentally posted draft reports of results from COVID 19 trials in China which were then removed from the website 75 Financial Times published an article on the findings 76 and Gilead Sciences released a statement saying that the study investigators did not provide permission for the publication of the results Furthermore we believe the post included inappropriate characterizations of the study Gilead indicated that there were plans to publish the data in a peer reviewed outlet 77 On 24 April WHO released a scientific brief arguing against immunity passports due to insufficient evidence 78 They also launched the Access to COVID 19 tools accelerator a collaboration to accelerate the development and production of vaccines diagnostics and therapeutics for COVID 19 79 On 27 April the WHO warned about the pandemic s impact on health services especially for children particularly vaccination 80 On 28 April the WHO launched a major UN led initiative to secure supplies of key medical equipment for 135 low to medium income countries responding to the COVID 19 pandemic 81 On 30 April the third meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director General agreed that the pandemic still constitutes a PHEIC 82 May 2020 edit On 1 May international experts on the COVID 19 Emergency Committee advised the WHO to work to identify the animal origins of the virus causing the COVID 19 pandemic and its transmission to humans 83 On 4 May the WHO welcomed a 7 4 billion Euro pledge by world leaders for COVID 19 treatments 84 while the UN Secretary General warned that five times that amount would be required urging the most massive public health effort in history 85 On 6 May the Director General of the WHO reported that since the start of April an average of 80 000 cases of COVID 19 per day had been reported to the WHO 86 On 8 May the Director General of the WHO stated that the lessons learned from the eradication of smallpox four decades previously could be applied to the coronavirus pandemic 87 On 11 May the WHO Director General warned the resurgence of COVID 19 cases in South Korea China and Germany followed the lifting of stay at home restrictions indicating their complexity 88 On 18 19 May the 73rd World Health Assembly was held online Australia and the EU tabled a seven page motion which was supported by over 120 delegations 89 The Australian delegation hardened the tone of the original European text to include the qualifiers impartial independent and comprehensive evaluation 90 to the text of OP9 10 as appropriate to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO coordinated international health response to COVID 19 using existing mechanisms including an IHR Review Committee and the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme The motion was supported by China but not by the United States 91 and passed by the WHA with unanimity The final motion calls for the review to be coordinated by the WHO itself 90 On 21 May the WHO and the UN refugee agency UNHCR signed a new pact an update and expansion of a 1997 agreement funded by the COVID 19 Solidarity Response Fund to better protect approximately 70 million people affected by COVID 19 in low and middle income countries with vulnerable health systems 92 On 22 May the Director General of the WHO reiterated that the COVID 19 pandemic was disrupting access to routine immunization services worldwide increasing the risk of potentially lethal diseases like diphtheria measles and pneumonia 93 On 27 May the WHO Foundation an independent body was launched to help fund the WHO as an integral part of the UN agency s resource mobilization strategy to broaden its donor base 94 On 29 May thirty countries and multiple international partners signed up to support the WHO backed COVID 19 Technology Access Pool C TAP a one stop shop for sharing data intellectual property and scientific knowledge to counter the disease 95 June 2020 edit On 1 June the WHO published research finding that the fight against COVID 19 had severely disrupted services to prevent and treat non communicable diseases like cancer diabetes and hypertension which kill over 40 million people each year 96 Dr Michael Ryan WHO Executive Director highlighted that Central and South America were now intense zones for COVID 19 transmission 97 On 3 June on World Bicycle Day the WHO highlighted the potential for bicycles to transform the way the world moves around and create a healthier more sustainable future after the pandemic 98 On 5 June the WHO recommended mask wearing for members of the public a change from their previous recommendations on the basis of increased evidence The organization still had reservations though and cautioned that mask use by the general public was still not yet supported by high quality or direct scientific evidence 99 On 8 June the WHO warned that the COVID 19 pandemic was worsening globally with more than 136 000 cases recorded on 7 June the highest ever in a single day 100 On 10 June the WHO reported that research was continuing to determine how the COVID 19 virus can be transmitted by people who show no symptoms of the disease asymptomatic transmission 101 On 11 June the WHO Africa regional office warned that COVID 19 was accelerating in Africa with more than 200 000 cases and more than 5 600 deaths 102 On 12 June the WHO warned about the pandemic s impact on women children and young people as it continued to escalate 103 On 15 June the WHO Director General emphasized the risk of the southern hemisphere influenza season as Co circulation of COVID 19 and influenza can worsen the impact on health systems that are already overwhelmed 104 On 17 June the WHO welcomed early results on the use of dexamethasone in the sickest COVID 19 patients while warning it is no cure all 105 On 19 June the WHO warned that the world was entering a new and dangerous phase of the COVID 19 pandemic as infection rates continued to climb and over 150 000 new cases of the disease were reported the previous day the highest single daily total to date 106 On 22 June the WHO reported the largest single day increase in coronavirus cases over 21 June registering more than 183 000 new infections in 24 hours with approximately 8 8 million cases in total worldwide with more than 465 000 deaths 107 On 24 June the WHO Director General warned that the world was on track to reach 10 million coronavirus cases within the next week a sober reminder that as research continues into therapeutics and vaccines maximum efforts were required immediately to suppress transmission and save lives 108 On 26 June the WHO and partners warned that more than 31 billion would be needed over the next year to develop effective medicines for COVID 19 and to make them globally available to all people 109 July 2020 edit On 1 July the Director General stated that some nations battling the COVID 19 pandemic who had been taking a fragmented approach to suppressing the deadly virus face a long hard road ahead 110 On July 7 the WHO announced that it would shortly issue a brief on the modes of transmission of the new coronavirus including the matter of airborne transmission 111 On July 10 the WHO announced that COVID 19 cases globally had more than doubled in the previous six weeks reaching 12 million 112 On 14 July in response to a press question Dr Michael Ryan executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme called for the issue of school reopenings to be decided as part of comprehensive data driven COVID 19 public health strategies rather than politically driven decision making processes 113 On 15 July the WHO and UNICEF called for immediate efforts to vaccinate all children in order to avoid the pandemic worsening access a problem affecting over 100 countries 114 On 20 July with Latin America now being the epicentre of the pandemic the WHO expressed concern at COVID 19 s impact on indigenous people in the Americas 115 On 23 July as global cases topped 15 million the Director General of the WHO urged people to play their part in preventing the further spread of the pandemic warning of no return to the old normal 116 On 27 July the WHO urged all countries to make the necessary hard choices in order to avoid a new wave of lockdowns and beat the pandemic as it announced nearly 16 million cases of reported infection worldwide and over 640 000 deaths 117 On 29 July the WHO stated that the first wave of COVID 19 was still continuing and that the virus was likely not impacted by seasonal changes like other respiratory diseases it also urged significantly more respect for physical distancing measures to prevent the virus s transmission 118 On 30 July the Director General of the WHO warned that while older people were among those at highest risk of COVID 19 younger generations are not invincible 119 August 2020 edit On 3 August the WHO s Emergency Committee on COVID 19 met to review the current coronavirus pandemic at what the Director General called a sobering moment due to the pandemic s massive direct and ripple effects with a warning of no silver bullet 120 On 5 August the WHO reported that a new surge team of leading UN health experts was traveling to South Africa to help with the COVID 19 response there as the country was now among the top five of the world s most affected countries 121 On 6 August addressing the Aspen Security Forum consisting of top level present and former United States government officials the WHO s Director General appealed to countries to unite against the disease stressing that there were more than 18 5 million cases of COVID 19 worldwide and 700 000 deaths 122 On 13 August the Director General stated that the agency s main mission was now focused on shepherding global vaccine candidates through the necessary trials then guaranteeing rapid fair and equitable access to vaccines for every country 123 On 18 August the WHO s Director General warned against vaccine nationalism in the COVID 19 pandemic stating that he had written to UN Member States urging them to join the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility a mechanism to guarantee fair access to effective immunization for all countries 124 On 20 August the WHO and UNICEF citing research urged African governments to promote a safe return of schoolchildren to classrooms while limiting the spread of COVID 19 125 On 24 August the WHO urged greater investment in the global COVID 19 vaccine facility the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility in which 172 countries are now participating and which aims to deliver two billion doses in 2021 126 On 25 August the WHO announced only a slim possibility of COVID 19 reinfection citing documented cases of 1 in over 23 million 127 On 27 August the WHO announced the setting up of an independent expert Review Committee to examine aspects of the international treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies in order to prepare for future pandemics 128 On 31 August the WHO Director General warned that kickstarting economies without a COVID 19 plan was a recipe for disaster while advising on the measures that individuals communities and governments communities could take to ensure safety 129 September 2020 edit On 4 September the WHO announced that the COVID 19 pandemic had caused massive global disruption in diagnosing and treating people with deadly but preventable diseases including over half of cancer patients 130 On 7 September the Director General announced that the Review Committee of the International Health Regulations designed to prepare for the next pandemic is commencing its work as he urged more investment in public health 131 On 18 September the Director General presented the second report of the WHO and World Bank backed Global Preparedness Monitoring Board A World in Disorder which recommends developing muscle memory i e repetition as a key to pandemic response 132 On 21 September the Director General unveiled the Vaccines Global Access Facility COVAX part of the ACT Accelerator to deliver two billion doses of coronavirus vaccine globally by the end of 2021 133 On 25 September the WHO revised its guidelines to recommend countries prioritize the elderly and health workers In the face of a potential global shortage of influenza vaccines and the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic 134 October 2020 edit On 2 October the Director General wished both President Trump and the First Lady of the United States a full and swift recovery and called for strong leadership and comprehensive strategies so that countries could change the trendlines of the COVID 19 pandemic 135 On 5 October the WHO estimated that 10 of the world s population may have been infected with coronavirus with 10 countries accounting for 70 of all reported cases and mortality and only three countries accounting for half 136 The WHO also announced survey results showing that the pandemic has interrupted essential mental health services in 93 of countries surveyed 137 On 10 October as infections rapidly rose in the Americans and in Europe the WHO rejected the concept of herd immunity through exposure to infection as a solution to the pandemic describing it as unethical and not an option He stated Herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached He explained that herd immunity is obtained by protecting people from the virus not by exposing them to it He added Letting the virus circulate unchecked therefore means allowing unnecessary infections suffering and death and that Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak let alone a pandemic 138 139 On 13 October in a joint statement the WHO together with the Food and Agriculture Organization International Fund for Agricultural Development and the International Labour Organization called for global solidarity and support especially with the most vulnerable in our societies and highlighted that tens of millions of people especially in the developing world risk falling into extreme poverty with nearly half of the global 3 3 billion workforces at risk of losing their jobs 140 On 15 October the WHO announced COVID 19 had become the fifth highest cause of death in Europe with nearly 700 000 cases being reported in the week the highest rate since March 141 On 19 October as COVID 19 cases continued to increase rapidly particularly in Europe and North America the Director General of the WHO warned governments and people globally not to relax and to protect those hospitalized and front line workers 142 November 2020 edit On 23 November Tedros warned that the poor must not be left out in the rush for vaccines 143 December 2020 edit In December 2020 it was reported that a WHO led international mission was expected to travel to China in the first week of January 2021 to investigate the origins of the COVID 19 pandemic 7 On 31 December 2020 the World Health Organization granted emergency use listing for the Tozinameran COVID 19 mRNA vaccine nucleoside modified Comirnaty 144 145 January 2021 edit In January 2021 WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had called on China to allow the investigation team in and expressed his dismay after China blocked the arrival of the mission s 10 virologists 146 147 A few days later permission was granted for the team to arrive 148 149 150 Mike Ryan WHO emergencies chief said that the purpose of the trip was to find the answers here that may save us in future not culprits and not people to blame A WHO affiliated health expert said expectations that the team would reach a conclusion from their trip should be very low 151 U S officials denounced the investigation as a Potemkin exercise and criticised the terms of reference allowing Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research 152 153 Epidemiologist Fabian Leendertz who is part of the team clarified that the mission is a data based investigation and advised against Trump style finger pointing Leendertz also made clear that the WHO would manage the complex and sensitive relations with China over access issues amid some people s concerns that China might try to obstruct the work 154 At the WHO s annual executive board meeting Tedros warned of a catastrophic moral failure if rich countries continued to hoard vaccine supplies at the expense of poor countries an issue that the WHO s COVAX vaccine sharing scheme intended to avoid The COVAX program aims to distribute 2 billion doses of the COVID 19 vaccine for free or at a reduced cost by the end of 2021 but has struggled to raise funds to subsidize the costs 155 156 It was revealed during the meeting that the WHO lacked an adequate financing system after its largest donor the U S announced its planned withdrawal later canceled over claims that the organization was heavily influenced by China during the coronavirus pandemic 155 157 February 2021 edit The investigation team released preliminary findings concluding that COVID 19 likely came from bats 158 On 15 February 2021 the World Health Organization authorized two versions of the AstraZeneca Oxford COVID 19 vaccine for emergency use 159 160 161 March 2021 edit The investigation team released their report the WHO convened Global Study of the Origins of SARS CoV 2 on 30 March The report found that COVID 19 likely did not originate at Huanan Seafood Market but that a lab leak origin was extremely unlikely 162 163 The report recommended livestock farms in Southeast Asia as a direction for further research on the virus s origins 163 The World Health Organization expressed support for a future pandemic treaty to address the problems exposed by the COVID 19 pandemic 164 165 On 12 March 2021 the World Health Organization authorized the Janssen COVID 19 vaccine Ad26 COV2 S for emergency use 166 167 April 2021 edit The World Health Organization encouraged individual donors to contribute to COVAX through the Go Give One campaign 168 On 30 April 2021 the World Health Organization granted emergency use listing for the Moderna COVID 19 mRNA Vaccine nucleoside modified 169 May 2021 edit On 7 May 2021 the World Health Organization authorized the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine for emergency use 170 July 2021 edit The WHO issued a proposal for the second phase of research into the virus s origins 171 October 2021 edit On 14 October 2021 WHO nominated 26 experts to join the Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens SAGO Michael Ryan said that the task force could be the last chance to understand the origins of COVID 19 172 November 2021 edit In a special session of the World Health Assembly the WHO member states agreed to launch negotiations to draft an international agreement to strengthen pandemic prevention preparedness and response commonly referred to as the pandemic treaty 173 174 The first official meeting will occur in March 2022 and the aim is to finalize a draft agreement by May 2024 for consideration by the 77th World Health Assembly 173 174 December 2021 edit On 22 December 2021 the WHO issued an update clarifying that COVID 19 disease was low in children and adolescents and that vaccination in those age groups was not recommended sparing valuable resources for other populations most in need 175 On 23 December 2021 the WHO confirmed that COVID 19 is airborne 176 177 May 2023 edit On May 5 the WHO declared an end to the global COVID 19 emergency 178 Initiatives editWHO releases daily situation reports and holds press conferences for updating the media about the pandemic 179 WHO has shipped more than two million items of personal protective equipment and one million diagnostic test kits to over 120 countries 180 WHO has launched multilingual e learning courses about various aspects of COVID 19 including for preparedness and response 181 182 By April 2020 WHO s Solidarity Response Fund had gathered more than US 140 million from more than 200 000 individuals and organizations 183 Safe Hands Challenge edit Safe Hands Challenge a campaign launched by WHO that urges everyone to wash their hands regularly saw participation from celebrities 184 WHO has an active presence on all social media channels where they work to counter misinformation 183 In order to counter myths related to COVID 19 WHO has created resources for the public 185 WHO has partnered with Lady Gaga who will perform a TV concert for fundraising for health workers By 7 April she raised US 35 million for the cause 186 Go Give One campaign edit The WHO Foundation and the Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Go Give One campaign in April 2021 encouraging individual and corporate donations to purchase COVID 19 vaccines for everyone everywhere 187 188 Funds raised are directed to the COVAX AMC managed by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance 189 190 The campaign raised over USD 7 million within the first two months of its launch 1 5 million of which came from individuals 27 of which were British donors 191 In December 2021 Virgin Atlantic the Pacific Asia Travel Association and Collinson a travel services company formed the Global Travel Sector Vaccine Coalition to fundraise on behalf of the travel industry 192 They were later joined by Priority Pass 193 Additional corporate partners of the campaign include Allen amp Overy Benevity Blue State Digital Charities Aid Foundation DFS Group eBay Etsy Facebook Global Citizen Mastercard PagerDuty Pandemic Action Network Religions for Peace Russell Reynolds Associates Salesforce Workday and XpresCheck 187 194 195 People editTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WHO s Director General has been leading the organization s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic 179 Along with Tedros Michael J Ryan executive director of WHO s Health Emergencies Programme and Maria Van Kerkhove technical lead of COVID 19 Response appear in press conferences at WHO Headquarters in Geneva 196 The WHO China Joint Mission in February 2020 was headed by Bruce Aylward of WHO and Wannian Liang of China s National Health Commission 32 Reception editThe WHO s handling of the pandemic has come under criticism amidst what has been described as the agency s diplomatic balancing act between China and China s critics as ongoing tension between China and the United States creates challenges in controlling the virus 4 Critics charge the organization with being too close to Beijing 16 Former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Japan Tarō Asō said that some people have called WHO the China Health Organization because of what he described as its close ties to Beijing 197 Initial concerns included the observation that while the WHO relies upon data provided and filtered by member states China has had a historical aversion to transparency and sensitivity to international criticism 5 In early January some WHO officials had internal discussions of insufficient information and significant delays in information provided by the Chinese government 198 Jeremy Youde a global health politics researcher and dean at the University of Minnesota Duluth said that WHO officials may have calculated that naming and shaming would not get the Chinese government to cooperate and that instead of highlighting the lack of information sharing the WHO may have intentionally decided to praise China s efforts and thank Beijing for its cooperation to keep the Chinese government on board and engaged with the WHO 199 In response to the criticisms in mid February WHO director general Tedros Adhanom stated that China doesn t need to be asked to be praised China has done many good things to slow down the virus The whole world can judge There is no spinning here 200 and further stated that I know there is a lot of pressure on WHO when we appreciate what China is doing but because of pressure we should not fail to tell the truth we don t say anything to appease anyone It s because it s the truth 5 Some observers have said WHO is unable to risk antagonizing the Chinese government as otherwise the agency would not have been able to stay informed on the domestic state of the outbreak and influence response measures there after which there would have likely have been a raft of articles criticizing WHO for needlessly offending China at a time of crisis and hamstringing its own ability to operate 5 Through this experts such as Dr David Nabarro have defended this strategy in order to ensure Beijing s co operation in mounting an effective global response to the outbreak 201 Osman Dar director of the One Health Project at the Chatham House Centre on Global Health Security defended WHO s conduct stating that the same pressure was one that UN organisations have always had from the advanced economies 202 In early April African leaders expressed support for the WHO amid the pandemic with the African Union saying the organization had done good work and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari calling for global solidarity 203 U S President Donald Trump praised the WHO early in the outbreak but later criticized the organization s response 204 On 14 April 2020 he announced that the U S would halt funding to WHO while reviewing its role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus 205 A week earlier at a press briefing Trump had criticized WHO for missing the call on the coronavirus pandemic and had threatened to withhold U S funding to the organization on the same day he also tweeted a complaint that China benefits disproportionately from WHO saying that WHO really blew it 206 The U S Congress had already allocated about 122 million to the WHO for 2020 and Trump had previously proposed in the White House s 2021 budget request to reduce WHO funding to 58 million 207 Trump s announcement drew condemnation from world leaders and health experts It came amid constant criticism of his failure to prepare for the outbreak in the U S the country worst affected in terms of infection numbers as of April 15 2020 208 13 The WHO called the decision regrettable and stated that the organization first alerted the world on 5 January when a cluster of 41 cases of atypical pneumonia was singled out from the millions of similar cases that occur every year 209 American law professor Lawrence O Gostin said that Trump s decision was the prime example of why we are in this mess He said the WHO is hesitant to cause any offense for fear of losing funding 210 In April 2020 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that while the Australian government valued the World Health Organization and planned to continue contributing funds they had lost faith in the organization s global headquarters The Australian government planned to push for the WHO to be given greater power similar to UN weapons inspectors to reduce reliance on individual national governments The Australian government also planned to push for a review of the global handling of the outbreak including by the WHO 211 In May 2020 German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that China s paramount leader Xi Jinping had asked WHO director general Tedros Adhanom in a 21 January phone call to hold off on issuing a global warning or reporting human to human transmission Citing sources within the German foreign intelligence service Bundesnachrichtendienst BND Der Spiegel said that the world lost four to six weeks in the fight against the novel coronavirus as a direct result of China s lack of transparency 212 213 The WHO denied that Tedros and Xi had spoken on that date and said that the two had never spoken by phone The WHO also noted that China had already confirmed human to human transmission on 20 January 214 Citing the conflict over Taiwan Der Spiegel also questioned whether the WHO can be as non political as what it claims in one of its mottos 215 On 19 May 2020 Donald Trump reaffirmed his criticism concerning the WHO s management of COVID 19 in a letter to director general Tedros Adhanom The letter was based on a selective version of the pandemic ignored or glossed over the WHO s clear warnings about the dangers of the contagion and falsely claimed that Taiwan had warned the WHO of human to human transmission on 31 December 216 3 The Lancet which was critical of Trump s ongoing WHO aid freeze rebutted the claim that the WHO had ignored a December 2019 report by the journal stating its first reports were published on 24 January 217 Trump threatened to withdraw the United States from WHO if the organization did not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days 216 After 11 days on May 29 Trump announced plans to cut ties between the United States and WHO 218 219 though it was unclear whether he had the authority to do so 220 Trump s successor Joe Biden reversed the decision in January 2021 saying that the WHO plays a crucial role in fighting COVID 19 and other public health threats 221 222 The WHO has been criticized for not stating that the COVID 19 outbreak was a pandemic until significantly after it had already clearly become one 223 On 18 January 2021 an independent panel led by Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf criticised the WHO for not declaring an international emergency sooner and called for its reform The panel questioned why the Emergency Committee of WHO only met in the third week of January 2020 and an international emergency was not declared until its second meeting on January 30 It also criticised China for not applying public health measures more forcefully in January 2020 The report says that the global pandemic alert system is not fit for purpose and that the World Health Organization has been underpowered to do the job 224 Norwegian lawmakers nominated the WHO and COVAX for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for their work to provide COVID 19 vaccines to low income countries 225 The WHO has been criticized for taking two years to say that COVID 19 is airborne 176 226 According to Juliette Genevaz a political scientist specialising in contemporary China the World Health Organization is considered to take similar lines to the Chinese government s 227 Taiwan edit See also COVID 19 pandemic in Taiwan The Taiwanese government protested WHO s very high risk rating for Taiwan in February 2020 at which time Taiwan had a very small number of cases compared to China 202 Taiwanese officials and some analysts have said that the exclusion of Taiwan from WHO on the basis of pressure from China has increased the risk of Taiwan missing disease related updates 228 WHO has responded that Taiwan has been given access to all coronavirus data and information and said that Taiwanese experts were involved in all of our consultations so they re fully engaged and fully aware of all of the developments in the expert networks 228 China had previously allowed Taiwan to be an observer at the World Health Assembly before relations deteriorated in 2016 229 The US President Donald Trump accused the WHO of late response to the pandemic and said that Taiwan sent an email to the WHO on 31 December warning of human to human transmission a claim that The Guardian and the fact checking website FactCheck org said was false 230 231 3 The Taiwanese government said it sent an email on 31 December 2019 to inform the WHO of its understanding of the disease while also requesting further information including whether it could be transmitted between people The WHO said the email it received from Taiwan made no mention of human to human transmission 232 233 International Treaty for Pandemic Prevention Preparedness and Response editMain article International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention Preparedness and Response The COVID 19 pandemic stressed the need for a globally coordinated governance response to future outbreaks 234 In this vein and to respond to the shortcomings of international health architecture the multiple WHO member states called for a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response to foster an all of government and all of society approach strengthening national regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics 235 International expert consultations to support and inform the WHO are underway 236 In December 2021 the second special session of the World Health Assembly agreed to begin negotiations to draft such an international agreement 173 See also editWorld Health Organization response to the COVID 19 pandemic in Africa United Nations response to the COVID 19 pandemic Timeline of the COVID 19 pandemic Pandemic treaty proposed international WHO agreement on pandemic prevention preparedness and responseReferences edit Listings of WHO s response to COVID 19 www who int Retrieved 9 December 2021 COVAX www who int Retrieved 9 December 2021 a b c d e Borger J 18 April 2020 Caught in a superpower struggle the inside story of the WHO s response to coronavirus The Guardian Retrieved 19 April 2020 a b Boseley S 18 February 2020 China s handling of coronavirus is a diplomatic challenge for WHO The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Archived from the original on 28 February 2020 Retrieved 28 February 2020 a b c d Griffiths J WHO s relationship with China under 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