Tedros Adhanom |
WHO chief calls for a halt to COVID-19-boosted shots as poor countries lag behind
The director of the World Health Organization has called for a moratorium on COVID-19 booster vaccines to help ensure doses are available in countries where few people received the first vaccines.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has mainly appealed to wealthier countries that have far outpaced the developing world in the number of vaccinations.
WHO officials say the researchers are unproven about whether giving booster doses to people who have already received two doses of the vaccine effectively prevents the spread of the Coronavirus.
The UN health agency has repeatedly called on rich countries to help improve access to vaccines in the developing world.
Tedros referred to the World Health Organization's goal earlier this year to ensure that 10% of the population in countries receive vaccinations against the Coronavirus. The World Health Organization has focused on providing vaccines to older people, health care workers, and other target populations in many countries before implementing booster injections.
Israel, France, Germany, and several Middle Eastern countries have already started running booster shots. Other countries, including the United States and Britain, are considering plans to do so in the wake of the emergence of a highly transmissible delta type.
Dr. Catherine O'Brien, Director of Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals at the World Health Organization noted that "a minimal number" of countries were giving booster doses, although more countries are considering it.
"The evidence is evolving. It is moving. We don't have the full set of evidence on whether or not this is necessary," O'Brien said, adding that the main message is that "we need instead to focus on the most vulnerable."
WHO officials have reiterated their call for global "solidarity" to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic and have appealed to wealthy nations and companies for help.
appealing in particular to the Group of Twenty with significant economic clout. "The G20 has a vital leadership role to play as the countries that are the largest producers, largest consumers, and largest donors of COVID-19 vaccines."
He urged the G20, currently chaired by Italy, to make "concrete commitments to support global vaccination goals."
"We call on everyone who has influence — Olympic athletes, investors, business leaders, religious leaders, everyone in their family and community — to support our call to stop using boosters until at least the end of September," Tedros said.
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