President Moon Jae-in and seven other heads of state on Wednesday called for equal access to an eventual vaccine against the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.

In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post, the leaders said ensuring equal access to any potential vaccine was just as important as developing an effective vaccine.

“What happens next is equally important. This cannot be a race with one winner. When one or more vaccines are successful, it must be a win for all of us,” the leaders wrote, saying it was a sign of hope that some 200 potential vaccine candidates were under development.

The piece was published under the names of Moon, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh.

The leaders also stressed that the world should not allow access to the vaccine to increase inequality among high- and low-income populations and countries.

(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)