Story at a glance
- World Health Organization leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday called on countries with high vaccination rates to refrain from offering booster shots except to the immunocompromised.
- Tedros criticized the excuses made around poor vaccination rates in low and middle-income countries as these nations have received 0.4 percent of the vaccines.
- But he said “the problem is simply that they cannot get the vaccines.”
World Health Organization (WHO) leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday called on countries with high vaccination rates to refrain from offering booster shots except to the immunocompromised.
“Most countries with high vaccine coverage continue to ignore our call for a moratorium on boosters, at the expense of health and vulnerable people in low-income countries who are waiting for the first doses,” Tedros said.
Tedros criticized the excuses made around poor vaccination rates in low and middle-income countries as these nations have received 0.4 percent of the vaccines. But he said “the problem is simply that they cannot get the vaccines.”
Approximately 7.15 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. Yet only 3.9 percent of residents in low and middle-income countries are partially vaccinated.
“No more vaccines should go to countries that have already vaccinated more than 40% of their population, until COVAX has the vaccines it needs to help other countries get there too,” Tedros added.
Tedros statements follow the organization’s emergency authorization of the India-developed coronavirus vaccine Covaxin on Wednesday.
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Meanwhile, the world crossed another grim threshold this week as the global COVID-19 death toll surpassed 5 million.
“Ending the pandemic as rapidly as possible must remain the central focus for every country,” Tedros continued.
“At the same time, we owe it to those who have lost their lives to this virus to learn the lessons it is teaching us, and take whatever action is necessary to prevent a future disaster on this scale.”
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