Vaccine equity the ‘challenge of our time’, WHO chief declares, as governments call for solidarity, sharing

(United Nations News) With the number of new COVID-19 cases nearly doubling over the past two months, approaching the highest infection rate the world has seen during the pandemic, the unequal distribution of vaccines is not only a moral outrage, but economically and epidemiologically self-defeating, the head of the UN health agency told a special ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Friday.

The summit – held in virtual format on the theme, “A Vaccine for All” – brought together senior officials from the UN, government, business, the scientific community and civil society, who explored ways to guarantee equal access to the vaccine as a global public good, and to strengthen countries’ readiness for its distribution.

“Vaccine equity is the challenge of our time”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) told the gathering in opening remarks. “And we are failing.”

Driving that point home, he said that of the 832 million vaccine doses administered, 82 per cent have gone to high or upper middle-income countries, while only 0.2 per cent have been sent to their low-income peers. In high-income countries alone, one in four people have received a vaccine, a ratio that drops precipitously to 1 in 500 in poorer countries.

Rapidly spreading variants, the inconsistent use and premature easing of public health measures, fatigue with social restrictions and the “dramatic” inequity in vaccine coverage; all have led to an alarming spike in new cases and deaths, he said.

Read more at: United Nations News

Source: CARICOM TODAY