The UN secretary-general and the World Health Organization chief said Thursday that vaccine inequity fuels the COVID-19 pandemic as they launched a global vaccination strategy.
“Vaccine inequality is the best ally of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Antonio Guterres.
“It is allowing variants to develop and run wild, condemning the world to millions more deaths, and prolonging an economic slowdown that could cost trillions of dollar,” he added.
“Science has played its part by delivering powerful, life-saving tools faster than for any outbreak in history,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus at a press webinar.
“But the concentration of those tools in the hands of a few countries and companies has led to a global catastrophe, with the rich protected while the poor remain exposed to a deadly virus,” he noted.
The WHO launched the Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination to help bring an end to what has become a two-track pandemic.
Under that, people in poorer countries continue to be at risk while those in richer countries with high vaccination rates enjoy much greater protection.
WHO had set a target to vaccinate 10% of every country, economy, and territory by the end of September but by that date, 56 countries had not been able to do so, with the vast majority of them in Africa and the Middle East.
The new strategy outlines a plan for achieving WHO’s targets to vaccinate 40% of the population of every country by the end of this year and 70% by mid-2022.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.