UNITED NATIONS, Sept.21 (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday berated the world for the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, calling it “obscenity” and giving the world an “F in ethics “.

Addressing the annual gathering of UN world leaders in New York, Guterres said the images of parts of the world of expired and unused vaccines in the garbage told “the story of our time” – with the majority of richest countries immune while over 90% of Africa has not even received a single dose.

“It’s a moral accusation against the state of our world. It’s obscenity. We passed the scientific test. But we get an F in ethics,” Guterres told the United Nations General Assembly.

World leaders returned to New York this year after a virtual event last year during the pandemic. While the coronavirus still rages on, about a third of the 193 UN states are sending videos again, but presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers of the rest have made it to the United States. Read more

Of the 5.7 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines administered worldwide, only 2% were administered in Africa. Guterres is pushing for a global plan to vaccinate 70% of the world by the first half of next year.

The secretary-general, who begins a second five-year term as head of the global body on January 1, also warned of rising tensions between the world’s superpowers – China and the United States.

“I’m afraid our world is heading towards two different sets of economic, business, financial and technological rules, two divergent approaches to the development of artificial intelligence – and ultimately two different military and geopolitical strategies,” he said. declared.

“It’s a recipe for trouble. It would be a lot less predictable than the Cold War,” Guterres said.

Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Timothy Heritage

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.