Poor nations and those involved in conflict need improved access to coronavirus vaccines, the United Nations Security Council said Friday in a unanimously approved resolution.
It was the second resolution on the pandemic passed by the council since it began a year ago.
In a rare gesture, it was co-sponsored by all 15 Security Council members, diplomats said.
"We are all facing the same threat, the same pandemic and international cooperation and multilateral action is needed," one diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
"This resolution could be a step in a good direction."
The motion required just a week of negotiations to draft, and its passage suggests the international community is moving towards unity that has been scarce since the health crisis began.
It also hints at a warming of relations within the U.N. between the United States and China since President Joe Biden took office in January.
Thorny issues remain, such as the origin of the virus in China and how transparent Beijing has been in its explanations of the outbreak, now that the World Health Organization has said it is unlikely the coronavirus leaked from a lab there.
"Now, especially because of the changes in the U.S., I don't see this issue to be as controversial as it was in the spring," said another diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He was referring to the arrival of Biden and a change from the harsh anti-Beijing rhetoric of Donald Trump, who spoke of the "China virus" or "kung flu" and said China was to blame for the once in a century global health crisis that heightened sinophobia and threatened bilateral relations.
Asked if this new spirit of unity will last, the second diplomat said, "We will see."
The first pandemic resolution passed by the council, in July of last year, needed more than three months of back and forth negotiations before it finally won approval. The process was agonizingly slow because of disputes between the U.S. and China. That resolution called for cease-fires in war zones to facilitate the fight against the pandemic.
The new resolution approved Friday stresses "the urgent need for solidarity, equity and efficacy" in fighting the pandemic in countries with limited access to vaccines.
The resolution "invites donation of vaccine doses from developed economies and all those in a position to do so to low and middle-income countries and other countries in need."
It also "calls for the strengthening of national and multilateral approaches and international cooperation ... in order to facilitate equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines in armed conflict situations, post-conflict situations and complex humanitarian emergencies."
The U.N. says some 160 million people live in such conditions.
This new draft urges Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to carry out frequent assessments of obstacles to vaccine access. The UN head had also called for a global cease-fire to fight COVID-19 in May.
It also calls on member countries to take measures to prevent speculation in and hoarding of vaccines so as to ensure access to inoculation, especially in conflict zones.
