Topline
As a handful of rich countries hoard the world’s Covid-19 vaccine supplies and start to immunize lower risk groups and authorize shots for use in children, the head of the World Health Organization implored them to reconsider and instead donate the much-needed supplies to the organization’s vaccine-sharing initiative, Covax.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries vaccinating … [+] low-risk populations should instead share doses.
Key Facts
At present, just 0.3% of the world’s vaccine supply goes to low-income countries because a “handful of rich countries” have already “bought up the majority of the vaccine supply,” WHO head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday.
Tedros said hospitals in low and middle-income countries like India, Egypt and Cambodia are being overwhelmed, “inundated with people that need lifesaving care” and lacking the supplies to vaccinate even health and care workers.
Tedros said that while he was vaccinated against Covid-19 this week, such uneven distribution of supplies across the globe made it a “bittersweet moment.”
He urged wealthy countries vaccinating increasingly low-risk members of the population—many with plans to extend coverage to even lower risk teens and children—to reconsider.
Rather than vaccinating children and teens, Tedros implored the countries to donate the supplies to the vaccine-sharing initiative, Covax, which the WHO leads alongside Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Crucial Quote
Tedros described the inequality in vaccine distribution as a “moral catastrophe.” Tedros, alongside many other public health officials, has repeatedly emphasized the need for global cooperation in ending the pandemic and noted that it is not over for anyone until it is over for all. Allowing market forces to guide vaccine distribution is not an acceptable strategy, he said Friday. “Trickle down vaccination is not an effective strategy for fighting a deadly respiratory virus,” he said.
Key Background
The U.S. is, though not named, a clear target of Tedros’ speech. The Food and Drug Administration expanded its emergency use authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine to include adolescents aged between 12 and 15 years old last week and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend that it be administered to this group on Wednesday, paving the way for widespread inoculation. Experts hope this will significantly cut down outbreaks in the U.S. and safeguard children from getting sick. More than 3.8 million children have been infected since the pandemic began, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommends all eligible children to get the shot.
Big Number
59 million. That’s how many doses Covax has supplied to 121 countries needing help acquiring vaccines. The U.S., which has been heavily criticized for its vast vaccine stores, recently announced plans to share its entire stock of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, an order of 300 million doses. 60 million of these should be ready in the coming months,
Further Reading
WHO Warns Of ‘Dangerous Moment’ Amid Spike In Covid-19 Cases (Forbes)
Moderna Pledges 500 Million Vaccine Doses To Stumbling WHO Program (Forbes)
Covid Surges In 4 Of 5 Most Vaccinated Countries—Here’s Why The U.S. Should Worry (Forbes)
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