Trudeau tells United Nations to address COVID-19 inequality amid vaccine advances

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is telling the United Nations General Assembly that the world’s fight against COVID-19 doesn’t end with the successful distribution of a vaccine.

Trudeau says the wide inequality between rich and poor countries, which has been made worse by the pandemic, also needs to be dealt with in a co-ordinated way.

Trudeau says poor countries haven’t been able to increase spending the way developed countries have to blunt the economic hardship the pandemic has caused their citizens.

The prime minister is joining more than 100 world leaders and officials today when he addresses a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the recovery from COVID-19.

The two-day session kicks off as the race to develop a pandemic-ending vaccine is heating up, amid calls for equitable early distribution of the doses.

Trudeau is expected to join British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, who are also addressing the special session.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2020.

The Canadian Press

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