UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (front) briefs the Security Council in an open debate on exclusion, inequality and conflict at UN headquarters in New York on Nov. 9, 2021. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

"Everyone, everywhere, must have access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatment," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, asking for support for the ACT-accelerator and the COVAX facility.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 30  -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres argued on Tuesday that "the only way out of a global pandemic and out of this unjust and immoral situation is through a global vaccination campaign."

The secretary-general was speaking at a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York of Foreign Ministers of the Group of 77 (G77) and China, where he noted that the COVID-19 pandemic "continues to wreak havoc" on developed and developing countries alike.

He said that the UN stands behind the vaccination strategy set out by the World Health Organization, with the goal of getting vaccines into the arms of 40 percent of people in all countries by the end of this year, and 70 percent by the middle of 2022.

"Everyone, everywhere, must have access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatment," the top UN official said, asking for support for the ACT-accelerator and the COVAX facility.