A Commission statement on The Lancet’s COVID-19 Commission, published in The Lancet on the opening of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, highlights the four main challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. That is, suppressing the pandemic through pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions, overcoming humanitarian emergencies, restructuring public and private finances post-pandemic, and rebuilding the world economy. From this, the statement identifies 10 priority actions that will be addressed by the Commission as the world continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.