Independent panel snubs WHO for delayed pandemic alarm

The catastrophic scale of the Covid-19 pandemic could have been prevented, an independent global panel concluded Wednesday, but a "toxic cocktail" of dithering and poor coordination meant the warning signs went unheeded.

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response said a series of bad decisions meant Covid-19 went on to kill at least 3.3 million people so far and devastate the global economy.

Early responses to the outbreak detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 "lacked urgency", with February 2020 a costly "lost month" as countries failed to heed the alarm, said the panel.

And the panel also called on the world's wealthiest nations to fund new organisations dedicated to preparing for the next pandemic.

The report was requested by World Health Organization member states last May.

The report, "Covid-19: Make it the Last Pandemic", argued that the global alarm system needed overhauling to prevent a similar catastrophe.

"It is due to a myriad of failures, gaps and delays in preparedness and response."

"Poor strategic choices, unwillingness to tackle inequalities and an uncoordinated system created a toxic cocktail which allowed the pandemic to turn into a catastrophic human crisis."

Vaccine ultimatum

Instead, it waited eight more days before doing so.

It was only in March after the WHO described it as a pandemic — a term that is not officially part of its alert system — that countries were jolted into action.

Without the lag between the first identification in Wuhan and the PHEIC declaration — and then the "lost month" of February 2020 — "we believe we wouldn't be looking at an accelerating pandemic, as we have for the last 15 or 16 months or so. As simple as that", said Clark.

Rich, well-vaccinated countries should provide the 92 poorest territories in the Covax scheme with at least one billion vaccine doses by September 1, and more than two billion by mid-2022, it said.

Fellow G20 nations and others should provide the rest.

"If actions do not occur within three months, a waiver of... intellectual property rights should come into force immediately."

To tackle future outbreaks and pandemics, the panel called for a Global Health Threats Council made up of world leaders, plus a pandemic convention.

"Ultimately, investing billions in preparedness now will save trillions in the future, as the current pandemic has so clearly illustrated," Clark told reporters.

Its alert system needed to be faster and it should have the authority to send expert missions to countries immediately without waiting for their green light, it added.