Covid pandemic discussions took place on UN’s sidelines at General Assembly

Fight to end virus pandemic takes place on UN's sidelines UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In four days of fiery speeches over war, climate change and the threat of nuclear weapons, one issue felt like an afterthought during this year's U.N. General Assembly: the coronavirus pandemic. AP NEWS

 ....any mention of COVID-19 by world leaders typically came at the tail-end of a long list of grievances.

But on the sidelines of the annual meeting, the pandemic was still very much part of the conversation.

On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gathered with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and others to discuss equitable access to COVID vaccines, tests and treatments.

And earlier that day, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield joined leaders from around the globe to mark the progress that has been made to fight COVID-19 — including the more than 620 million vaccine doses to 116 countries and economies that the United States has provided. But she emphasized there is still much work to do. ...