World leaders to address UNGA session, Trump not included

US President Donald Trump has not been included in the list of speakers  who will address the special UN general assembly session. World leaders, the top leadership of the UN and vaccine developers will address a two-day, special session of the UN General Assembly on Covid-19 on December 3 & 4. They will also discuss the pandemic’s impact as well as the multi-faceted, coordinated response required to address the greatest global health crisis in decades.US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar will address the high-level meeting.

World leaders expected to address the session are Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, French President Emmanuel Macron, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to the speakers list, there are 141 speakers inscribed, including 53 heads of state, 39 heads of government, four deputy prime ministers and 38 ministers.

Serum Institute of India Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla will also address the session through a pre-recorded video on December 4.BioNTech co-founders Ugur Şahin and Ozlem Tureci, vaccine team leader at Oxford University Sarah Gilbert and Chief Executive Officer of GAVI (the vaccine alliance) Seth Berkley will address the special session virtually.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.3 million lives and infected more than 54 million people globally, “is not only the greatest global health crisis since the creation of the United Nations 75 years ago, it is also a humanitarian, socio-economic, security and human rights crisis,” the world body said.