Abdulla Shahid, president of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), on Tuesday announced a New Year resolution that calls on governments to come together on the issue of vaccine inequality.

"Unless we can vaccinate the world, there is no way out of this. You see different types of variants coming out, and this is going to continue," said Shahid at a press briefing in New York.

Talking about the World Health Organization's goal of inoculating 40 percent of the world's population by the end of this year, Shahid noted that the international community was going to miss the target. He also expressed skepticism about meeting the next target of inoculating 70 percent of the global population by mid-2022.

"We do not have vaccine equity," he said. "When you look at countries in Africa where you have an average vaccination rate of maximum 5 or 6 percent, we are unable to say with confidence that we are anywhere near to equity."

This is exactly why the UNGA must unite on vaccinations, he said.

Shahid said he is looking forward to "a united effort" in making COVID-19 vaccines universal. 

He also announced convening a one-day high-level thematic debate, titled "Galvanizing Momentum for Universal Vaccination," on January 13 next year to address the issue.