London, August 5 (HNA) – The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called for a worldwide moratorium on COVID-19 booster shots until at least the end of September, to allow low-income nations to get more initial vaccination doses.
At a media briefing at the WHO’s Geneva headquarters, Ghebreyesus once again brought up inequities in worldwide vaccine allocation, noting more than 80 percent of the four billion Covid-19 vaccine doses administered globally are going to high- and upper-middle-income countries, “even though they account for less than half of the world’s population.”
“Hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, some rich countries are moving towards booster doses,” said Ghebreyesus, adding that, “So far, more than 4 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally. More than 80 percent have gone to high- and upper-middle-income countries, even though they account for less than half of the world’s population.”
“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected” he said and went on as follows:
“In late May, I called for global support for a “sprint to September”, to enable every country to vaccinate at least 10 percent of its population by the end of September. We’re now more than halfway to that target date, but we’re not on track.
“When I issued that challenge in May, high-income countries had administered around 50 doses for every 100 people. Since then, that number has doubled. High-income countries have now administered almost 100 doses for every 100 people.
“Meanwhile, low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people, due to lack of supply. We need an urgent reversal, from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries, to the majority going to low-income countries.
“Accordingly, WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September, to enable at least 10 percent of the population of every country to be vaccinated. To make that happen, we need everyone’s cooperation, especially the handful of countries and companies that control the global supply of vaccines.
“The G20 has a vital leadership role to play, as the countries that are the biggest producers, the biggest consumers and the biggest donors of Covid-19 vaccines. It’s no understatement to say that the course of the pandemic depends on the leadership of the G20 countries.
“One month from now, the G20 health ministers will meet, ahead of the G20 summit in October. I call on them to make concrete commitments to support WHO’s global vaccination targets.
“We call on vaccine producers to prioritize COVAX. And we call on everyone with influence – Olympic athletes, investors, business leaders, faith leaders, and every individual in their own family and community – to support our call for a moratorium on booster shots until at least the end of September.
“At the same time, we must all remember that vaccines are not the only tool. Indeed, there is no single tool that will defeat this pandemic. We can only defeat it with a comprehensive approach of vaccines in combination with the proven public health and social measures that we know work.”