Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), has urged rich countries to donate Covid-19 vaccines to the COVAX facility and share it with the rest of the world instead of going for vaccination of kids right now.
The WHO boss also said that the situation in India remains "hugely concerning" though it is not the only country that has emergency needs as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Egypt also deal with spikes in cases and hospitalizations.
"In a handful of rich countries, which bought up the majority of the vaccine supply, lower risk groups are now being vaccinated. I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to COVAX," Ghebreyesus said on Friday evening during a virtual media briefing in Austria.
"At present, only 0.3% of vaccine supply is going to low-income countries. Trickle down vaccination is not an effective strategy for fighting a deadly respiratory virus… In low and lower-middle income countries, vaccine supply has not been enough to even immunize health and care workers, and hospitals are being inundated with people that need lifesaving care urgently," he added.
He said that the fact that so many are still not protected is a sad reflection on the gross distortion in access to vaccines across the globe.
"Last September in the Economist we warned about the threat of vaccine nationalism and some said we were being alarmist. In January, I spoke about the potential unfolding of a moral catastrophe. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing this play out."
Ghebreyesus said that WHO is responding to the crisis in India and has shipped thousands of oxygen concentrators, tents for mobile field hospitals, masks and other medical supplies. With Covid-19 having already cost more than 3.3 million lives, he said that the second year of the pandemic could be far more deadly than the first.
The WHO head said that as vaccine supply remains a key challenge, he is pleased to see leaders and manufacturers working to address some of the issues, including about sharing vaccines with COVAX, which is the fastest way to ensure equitable rollout of vaccines.
He said that the organisation has again convened researchers and scientists from around the world to update the Research and Innovation Roadmap to take stock of "what we’ve learned" and identify the most pressing knowledge gaps.
