US demands ‘robust’ coronavirus origin probe by WHO team

A WHO team was to clear quarantine in Wuhan to begin its long-awaited investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.

Outside the Jade Boutique Hotel in Wuhan, where members of the WHO team were about to clear quarantine on Thursday. Picture: AFP

The US demanded a “robust and clear” international probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, as a World Health Organisation team in China waited on Thursday for the green light to begin its long-awaited investigation.

The call came as coronavirus infections shot past 100 million and governments scrambled to get their hands on scarce vaccine doses, with a bitter row erupting between the EU and Britain over the supply of AstraZeneca shots.

Beijing has frustrated international efforts to track the origins of the virus, which has killed more than 2.1 million people globally, and only recently allowed the WHO team into China after ­repeated delays.

“It is imperative that we get to the bottom of the early days of the pandemic in China, and we’ve been supportive of an international investigation that we feel should be robust and clear,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

President Joe Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump had enraged China by accusing it of a botched response to the outbreak in Wuhan, and had led calls for an independent investigation.

China has sought to deflect blame for the global human and economic toll by suggesting — without proof — that the virus emerged somewhere else.

The highly anticipated WHO mission was expected to begin its work under tight security on Thursday as team members finished their 14-day quarantine after arriving in China.

But relatives of those who died in Wuhan have accused Chinese authorities of deleting their social media group and putting pressure on them to keep quiet, apparently to avoid any embarrassment during the WHO probe.

With cases surging across Europe, the EU has demanded that AstraZeneca make up for delays by supplying vaccine doses from its factories in the UK.

But Britain has told the firm to honour its delivery promises too as it tries to accelerate its program, even using historic sites such as Salisbury Cathedral and Lord’s cricket ground in London as vaccination centres.

AstraZeneca has said there is not enough to go around. At least 90 million doses of that vaccine, which AstraZeneca developed with the University of Oxford, will be produced in Japan, but local media said they may not be distributed until May.

Pfizer, which developed its vaccine with BioNTech, has revised higher its production target for this year from 1.3 billion doses to 2 billion. While part of that is down to increased production, it is also impacted by a change in how the firm counts doses. After initially saying each vial contained five, the company now says six shots can be extracted.

In a letter released on Thursday, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has warned that the world must prepare for the next pandemic as it would for war, including the investment of tens of billions of dollars each year.

“We can’t afford to be caught flat-footed again,” wrote the Microsoft co-founder and his wife Melinda. “The threat of the next pandemic will always be hanging over our heads — unless the world takes steps to prevent it.

“Pandemic preparedness must be taken as seriously as we take the threat of war. The world needs to spend billions to save trillions and prevent millions of deaths.”

The American, the third-wealthiest person in the world, urged rich countries to provide the bulk of the investment, pointing out that their governments stand to benefit most. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has already invested $US1.75bn to fight the pandemic, as well as promoting and funding inoculation projects in developing countries.

AFP