‘Just give us the vaccines’: WHO pleads amid vaccine shortage in poor nations

“Our world is failing, as the global community we are failing,” said WHO Director-General Tedros.

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It’s been almost two years and coronavirus is still wreaking havoc in several countries and people in poor nations have suffered most due to lack of health system and vaccines. Whereas rich countries are now vaccinating young people who are at lower risk. Citing the same economic difference and critical need of vaccine doses in third world countries, WHO has urged rich nations to come forward to help and pleaded, ‘Just give is the vaccine.’

“The level of paternalism, the level of the colonial mindset that says ‘we can’t give you something because we’re afraid you won’t use it’. I mean seriously, in the middle of a pandemic?” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghereyesus.

“Our world is failing, as the global community we are failing,” he added.

Last week in Africa, new coronavirus infections and deaths have increased by 40 percent as compared to previous week. As the Delta variant is spreading globally, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghereyesus labeled Africa’s condition extremely dangerous.

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Ghereyesus, in a news conference, criticized unnamed countries for their unwillingness to share covid vaccine with low-income nations. He compared it to the HIV/AIDS crisis when some said that African countries couldn't afford to use complicated treatments.

“I mean that attitude has to be a thing of the past. The problem now is a supply of doses, just give us the vaccine,” he said.

“The difference between the haves and have nots which is now completely exposing the unfairness of our world - the injustice, the inequality, let’s face it.”

Meanwhile, the WHO’s top emergency expert Mike Ryan said that many developing countries are far better than industrialized countries at mass vaccination against infectious diseases like cholera and polio.

Also, COVAX, joint project of GAVI vaccine alliance and WHO has delivered 90 million coronavirus vaccines to 132 countries since February, however, has faced major supply problems since India halted vaccine exports.


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