Vaccine inequity causes ‘dangerous divergence’ in COVID survival rates – UN agency heads

(United Nations News) The global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is progressing at “two alarmingly different speeds”, UN agency leaders said in a statement on Friday, noting that less than two per cent of adults are fully vaccinated in most low-income countries compared to almost 50 per cent in high-‑income nations. 

The heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) met with the leaders of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), Africa CDC, Gavi and UNICEF to rapidly scale-up vaccines in low- and lower middle-income countries, particularly in Africa.

“These countries, the majority of which are in Africa, simply cannot access sufficient vaccine to meet even the global goals of 10 per cent coverage in all countries by September and 40 per cent by end 2021, let alone the African Union’s goal of 70 per cent in 2022”, the UN officials said.

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Source: CARICOM TODAY