UN chief decries pandemic's harm to the poor

The United Nations chief says the pandemic has forced more than 100 million people into poverty and left over 4 billion people with little or no social support, health care or income protection.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres told an International Monetary Fund panel Monday that global solidarity “is missing in action” and people living in conflict-affected and poor countries are suffering most of all.

In Guterres’ words, “Vaccine inequality is a moral outrage that is condemning the world to millions more deaths and prolonging an economic slowdown that could cost trillions of dollars, hitting the poorest countries hardest of all.”

Guterres says indications the world is in a substantial economic recovery mask the huge divergence between the situations in rich countries and in the least developed nations.