Singapore, Nov 12 (PTI) Describing COVID-19 pandemic as the defining challenge of 2020, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday called on the ASEAN authorities to ensure an equitable, steady and affordable supply of vaccines for its people once they are available.

Addressing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) virtual Summit, Lee called for "vaccine multilateralism" and stressed the importance of regional cooperation to mitigate the pandemic's long-term impact at the meeting held remotely this year.

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"Many leading vaccine candidates are being developed by our external partners, as well as our ASEAN member states too. We should work with them to facilitate the production and distribution of vaccines to meet the needs of our region," Lee was quoted as saying by The Straits Times in its report.

He said that Singapore supports global vaccine initiatives such as the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) Facility, whose members include many ASEAN states as well as the country's external partners.

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ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries, which promotes international cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration.

ASEAN members include-- Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos.

The summit is taking place amid China's aggressive behaviour in the disputed South China Sea as well as in eastern Ladakh. A number of ASEAN countries have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

During his address, Lee also announced Singapore's USD 100,000 contribution to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund, which helps member states procure the medical supplies and equipment needed to combat the pandemic, the report said.

On the economic front, leaders should redouble efforts to enhance the 10-member country ASEAN's competitiveness in the post-COVID-19 world, said Lee.

“COVID-19 has been the defining challenge of 2020,” Lee added.

Coronavirus ha so far infected 52,208,441 people and claimed the lives of 1,285,709 others across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Lee noted the establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Public Health Emergencies to lead the regional response, as well as the creation of the ASEAN Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies and COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund that Singapore is contributing to.

“Singapore recognises the importance of these mechanisms,” he said.

Meanwhile, Singapore reported 11 imported COVID-19 cases on Thursday, all of whom have been placed under stay-home notice on arrival here.

There was no local case, said the Ministry of Health in its daily update on coronavirus.

The new infections bring Singapore's tally of COVID-19 cases to 58,102.

With five more cases discharged from hospitals and community facilities on Wednesday, 57,990 have fully recovered from the disease.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)