GENEVA, Switzerland
COVAX, the partnership for vaccine equity, said Wednesday it would only be able to provide COVID-19 jabs to 20% of people in poorer countries this year, far below its anticipated target, which the World Health Organization (WHO) said is unacceptable.
WHO Director-General Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been a lot of talk about vaccine equity from
higher-income countries "but too little action."
He called for an extended
worldwide moratorium on booster jabs to doses already administered.
"Today, COVAX's ability to
protect the most vulnerable people in the world continues to be hampered by
export bans, the prioritization of bilateral deals by manufacturers and
countries, ongoing challenges in scaling up production by some key producers,
and delays in filing for regulatory approval," the WHO and the Gavi
vaccine alliance said in a statement.
According to its latest forecast,
the vaccine sharing service COVAX expects to have access to 1.425 billion
vaccine doses in 2021, enough to protect only 20% of the population in less
wealthy countries.
Tedros said that globally, 5.5
billion vaccine doses had been administered, but 80% went to high- and
upper-middle-income countries.
"High-income countries have
promised to donate more than 1 billion doses, but less than 15% of those doses
have materialized," he said.
"Manufacturers have promised
to prioritize COVAX and low-income countries. We don't want any more promises.
We just want the vaccines."
The WHO chief said that a month
ago, he called for a global moratorium on booster doses until the end of
September to prioritize vaccinating the most at-risk people worldwide who are
yet to receive their first dose.
"There has been little
change in the global situation since then.
"So today, I am calling for
an extension of the moratorium until at least the end of the year to enable
every country to vaccinate at least 40% of its population," said Tedros.
Tedros said that as the world's
largest producers, consumers, and donors of vaccines, the world's 20 leading
economies hold the key to vaccine equity and ending the pandemic.
"Now is the time for true
leadership, not empty promises," he said.
He said the world has the
solutions to stop transmission and save lives, but they are either not being used
well or not being shared well.
"The inequitable
distribution of life-saving tools including diagnostics, oxygen, personal
protective equipment, and vaccines is driving a two-track pandemic," he
said.
Some countries with the highest
vaccine coverage can reopen their societies without their health systems being
overwhelmed.
"While cases in some of
these countries are increasing among unvaccinated people, hospitalizations and
deaths have remained relatively low thanks to vaccines and earlier clinical
care," said the WHO chief.
"However, premature relaxing
of public health and social measures is putting unvaccinated and
immunocompromised people at extreme risk."
He also observed that some
countries are refusing entry to people fully vaccinated with a vaccine that has
WHO Emergency Use Listing but has not been approved by their own national
regulators.
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