4/14/2021
(Adds U.S. Chamber of Commerce reaction)
GENEVA, April 14 (Reuters) - The head of the World Trade
Organization laid out a series of actions on Wednesday for
countries and drug makers to increase production of coronavirus
vaccines and share them more widely and fairly.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who became WTO director-general in
March, called a closed-door meeting of producers, governments
and others over inequitable access, with low-income countries
administering just 0.2% of 700 million global doses.
In her concluding remarks, Okonjo-Iweala said that concerns
over cross-border supply chains, including export curbs and
shortages of skilled personnel, had reinforced her view that the
WTO must play a central role in the response to the pandemic.