A man gets his COVID-19 vaccine in Moju, Para state, Brazil. Photo: AFP/VNA

"The way the WTO handles this matter is critical," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told country representatives taking part in a meeting of the WTO general council, the organization's main decision-making body. "We need to have a sense of urgency on how we approach this issue of response to COVID-19 because the world is watching," she said, describing equitable access to the tools to fight the pandemic as the "moral and economic issue of our time."