What's happening? WHO criticizes drastic inequality in vaccine distribution

The World Health Organization called on countries to refrain from administering additional doses of Covid vaccine by the end of the year, noting that millions of people worldwide have not yet received a single dose.

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters:

"I will not remain silent when companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think that the poor should be content with what is left."

Speaking from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Tedros called on rich countries and vaccine makers to prioritize first-dose doses for health workers and at-risk populations in poorer nations rather than extra doses. .

"We do not want to see widespread use of booster doses for healthy people who are fully vaccinated."

The WHO called last month for a moratorium on vaccination against Covid-19 by the end of September to address drastic disparities in the distribution of doses between rich and poor nations. But Tedros admitted on Wednesday that "there have been few changes since then. "So today I am calling for an extension of the moratorium until at least the end of the year," he said.

High-income countries have promised to donate more than a billion doses of vaccine to poorer countries, he said - but less than 15% of those doses have materialized.

"We do not want promises anymore. We just want vaccines. ”

Washington opposed the call for a moratorium, saying Joe Biden has "a responsibility to do everything we can to protect the people of the United States."

"We are doing both, we think we can do both, and we will continue to do both," said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Sources: Associated Press, Guardian