Coronavirus vaccines will not be enough to beat the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said. That requires political willingness among powerful governments to work together and turn away from the nationalism and isolationism.

WHO’s Tedros Adhanom told the World Health Assembly, “It’s time for the world to heal – from the ravages of this pandemic and the geopolitical divisions that only drive us further into the chasm of an unhealthier, un-safer and unfairer future.”

He congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and looked forward to working closely with their administration. But he did not say what he expects from Washington after the disastrous relationship with Donald Trump, who withdrew America from WHO alleging that it is a tool of China.

He spoke against a backdrop of Covid-19 hospitalizations at an all-time high in the US with 17 states reporting peaks, according to the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. It reports more than 10 million infections and 233,000 deaths in the US.

“We need to reimagine leadership, built on mutual trust and mutual accountability – to end the pandemic and address the fundamental inequalities that lie at the root of so many of the world’s problems,” Tedros said.

Of course, that is a very broad view of the combat against coronavirus and could seem like an attempt to bury specific policy failures in dealing directly with the pandemic in timely fashion. Many around the world criticize WHO for not sounding the alarm early enough because of Chinese influence in its scientific committees and higher echelons.

Now Tedros seems to be saying that Covid-19 cannot be stamped out effectively because it reflects almost everything wrong in international relations.

“A vaccine is needed urgently to control the pandemic. (But) there is no vaccine for poverty, hunger, climate change or inequality. None of these challenges can be addressed in isolation. They are deeply intertwined – and so must be our response,” he warned.

“A vaccine cannot address the global under-investment in essential public health functions and resilient health systems, nor the urgent need for a “One Health” approach that encompasses the health of humans, animals and the planet we share.”

These may be accurate assessments but are very tall orders involving extremely expensive remedies for governments already nervous about runaway globalism and struggling to balance budgets.

Addressing the pandemic by first alleviating poverty, hunger, climate and inequality are well beyond the short timelines needed to end the adverse economic impacts and unemployment caused by the coronavirus in almost all countries.

Almost 50 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, and more than 1.2 million people have lost their lives. Millions more have died due to disruption of essential health services.

Half of all cases and deaths are in just four countries, the US, India, Brazil, and Russia. Several countries in Europe have re-introduced restrictions to face the new wave of infections and prevent their health systems from being overwhelmed.

“No one knows the long-term effects of coronavirus on the human body, or on the type of world our children and grandchildren will inherit,” Tedros pointed out.

However, countries and cities that have successfully prevented or controlled Covid-19 transmission used a comprehensive, evidence-based approach.

This pandemic has also taken a toll in ways that no one can measure, including grief and fear. “It preys on those in weaker health. But it preys on other weaknesses, too: inequality, division, denial, wishful thinking and willful ignorance”, he said.

Taking a jab at misinformation and those, like Trump, who think the coronavirus will disappear on its own, he added, “We cannot negotiate with it, nor close our eyes and hope it goes away. It pays no heed to political rhetoric or conspiracy theories,” he said.

“Our only hope is science, solutions and solidarity.” Importantly, governments should no longer see health as a by-product of development, or a commodity that only the rich can afford. It must be seen as a fundamental human right that underpins every human aspiration.