COVID-19
WHO seeks COVID-19 vaccines for poor nations, ‘not empty promises’
The World Health Organization said this week it was now down to manufacturers and rich countries to deliver pledged COVID-19 vaccine doses to low-income countries to ease global health inequalities.
About 80 percent of the 5.5 billion vaccine doses that have been administered globally went to high- and upper-middle income countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing.
WHO has set a target to enable every country to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the population by the end of this year and Tedros said deliveries to poorer nations need to be boosted for this to be achieved.
“Manufacturers have promised to prioritise and low-income countries. We don’t want any more promises. We just want the vaccines,” Tedros said.
He added vaccine manufacturers had “prioritised or been legally obliged to fulfil bilateral deals with rich countries willing to pay top dollar.”