The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) promotes global awareness and understanding of the work of the United Nations through its network of United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) around the world. The UN Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels engages with local audiences in 21 countries as well as the Holy Sea and European institutions Yente Thomas is 17 years old and has become one of the first teenagers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Belgium a country which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic Yente volunteers in a residential care home and was therefore included in the first phase of the country’s vaccination strategy along with the care home’s elderly residents Currently in his final high school year of Health and Welfare Sciences Yente decided to volunteer in a nearby residential care home in the town of Wachtebeke “You receive gratitude and love from working there seeing people smile spontaneously at you when you arrive that colours my day and is worth more than money,” he told the UN Regional Information Centre in Brussels he gives three reasons as to why getting the vaccine is so important and shares his view on how to combat misinformation.  When asked about the importance of the vaccine Yente is decisive: “we have to go through this together as one front we're not doing this work to make ourselves feel better That sort of conventional notion of what a do-gooder is We're doing this work because we are totally convinced that it's not necessary in today's wealthy world for so many people to be experiencing discomfort for so many people to be experiencing hardship for so many people to have their lives and their livelihoods imperiled.” David Nabarro has dedicated his life to global health After a long career that’s taken him from the horrors of war torn Iraq to the devastating aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami he is still spurred to action by the tremendous inequalities in global access to medical care “The thing that keeps me awake most at night is the rampant inequities in our world…We see an awful lot of needless suffering.” returns to the stage after a long absence during the COVID-19 pandemic It counts 250 children and teenagers from the favela as its performers The ballet group provides social support in a community where poverty hunger and teen pregnancy are constant issues The pandemic has put many people to the test Coronavirus has waged war not only against people's lives and well-being but has also spawned countless hoaxes and scientific falsehoods.