Web Desk
\nGENEVA
\nThe World Health Organisation on Friday condemned the chasm between rich and poor nations in accessing coronavirus vaccines, saying more than a dozen countries were still completely unprotected.
\nWHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus \u2014 a fierce critic of wealthy countries buying up vaccine supply for themselves \u2014 blasted the scarcity of doses available for poorer nations.
\nHis target of seeing vaccination under way in every country by Saturday (today) \u2014 the 100th day of 2021 \u2014 is set to be missed.
\n\u201cThere remains a shocking imbalance in the global distribution of vaccines,\u201d Tedros told a press conference.
\nHe said that out of 220 territories, 194 had started vaccination, while of the remaining 26, seven have received doses and are preparing to start, while a further five should take delivery of their first batches within days.
\nOf the remaining 14, some had not requested vaccines through the Covax scheme, some were not yet ready, and some planned to start in the coming weeks and months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re encouraged that almost all countries who want to start have now started,\u201d Tedros said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I emphasise the word start. Most countries do not have anywhere near enough vaccines to cover all health workers, or all at-risk groups \u2014 never mind the rest of their populations.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 732 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in at least 195 territories around the world, according to a count.<\/p>\n
Some 49 per cent of the doses have been injected in high-income countries accounting for 16pc of the global population.<\/p>\n
Just 0.1pc have been administered in the 29 lowest-income countries, home to 9pc of the world\u2019s population.<\/p>\n
Tedros compared some high-income countries where one in four had received a shot to low-income ones, where fewer than one in 500 had done so.<\/p>\n
The WHO co-led Covax facility, which aims to ensure that poorer nations can access Covid-19 vaccines with donors covering the cost, had been expecting to distribute its first 100 million doses worldwide by the end of March. But only 38 million have been distributed so far, to 105 territories.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to be able to catch up during April and May,\u201d said Tedros.<\/p>\n
\u201cCovax works. It\u2019s a strong mechanism that can distribute vaccines faster and more efficiently than any other mechanism. The problem is not getting vaccines out of Covax; the problem is getting them in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Web Desk GENEVA The World Health Organisation on Friday condemned the chasm between rich and poor nations in accessing coronavirus vaccines, saying more than a dozen countries were still completely unprotected. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus \u2014 a fierce critic of wealthy countries buying up vaccine supply for themselves \u2014 blasted the scarcity of doses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-185335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n