Healthcare workers administer the COVID-19 vaccine to residents living in the Jackson Heights area of St. Louis. Johns Missionary Baptist Church resides, January 10, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
Octavio Jones | Getty Images
LONDON – The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that the fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines was ‘seriously endangered’.
Warning for a “catastrophic moral failure”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, “the recent emergence of rapidly spreading variants makes the rapid and equitable roll-out of vaccines all the more important.”
But he added that this spread could easily become another brick in the wall for inequality between the world’s possession and possession. ‘
“As the first vaccines begin to deploy, the promise of equitable access is a serious risk,” he said during a WTO executive council meeting.
While more than 39 million doses of different vaccines have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries, only 25 doses have been given in one country with the lowest income.
“I must be blunt, the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the poorest countries in the world.”
At the beginning of his speech, Tedros emphasized that the development and approval of safe coronavirus vaccines less than a year after the virus’ emergence in China, late in 2019, was a ‘remarkable achievement and a much-needed source of hope’. wash.
However, he added that “it is not right for younger, healthier adults in rich countries to be vaccinated before health workers and older people in poorer countries.”
“There will be enough vaccine for everyone, but at the moment we need to work together as a global family to prioritize those with the greatest risk of serious illness and death in all countries.”
Without naming names, Tedros said that some countries and companies speak the language of fair access, but that they still prioritize bilateral transactions, and circumvent COVAX, which raises prices and tries to jump ahead. “It’s wrong,” he said.
COVAX is a global scheme led by an international vaccine alliance called Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and also the WHO. It was established to ensure equitable access to vaccines for every country in the world. The aim is to deliver 2 billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that have been passed by regulatory approval and / or WTO pre-qualification by the end of 2021.
The WHO called on rich countries that pre-ordered millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines, such as the US, UK and Europe, to share a portion of the vaccines with COVAX, so that they could return to poorer countries. can spread.
Richer countries are accused of “hoarding” more vaccines than they need, although the supply of vaccines is still in its early days, as mass vaccinations – which began in the West in December – are still in their early stages of distribution. is.
Tedros called on countries with bilateral transactions with vaccine manufacturers, and on controls for supply, to “be transparent with COVAX on volumes, prices and delivery dates”, and to share their own doses with COVAX once they have their own healthcare workers and parent vaccinated. populations.