The World Health Organization called for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine booster shots to enable poorer countries to catch up in inoculation rates.
The halt on third doses should be in place until at least the end of September, director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing on Wednesday. That would help achieve the WHO’s goal to vaccinate at least 10% of the population in every country by that date, protecting health care workers and vulnerable people.
“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the delta variant, but we cannot and we should not accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected,” Tedros said.
He also called on vaccine producers to prioritise Covax, the programme set up last year to equitably distribute vaccines to every corner of the planet. Many lower-income countries rely on Covax, but the initiative has only delivered a fraction of the 1.8 billion doses it aims to ship by early 2022. High-income countries have received almost one dose for every person -- although most vaccines require two doses for full immunisation -- compared with low-income countries, which have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people, Tedros said.
WHO has been advocating for more equitable distribution of vaccines for months, though it lacks the authority to compel countries to follow its wishes.
{{/usCountry}}WHO has been advocating for more equitable distribution of vaccines for months, though it lacks the authority to compel countries to follow its wishes.
{{/usCountry}}After an early and effective vaccination drive beginning in December, Israel became the first country last week to widely roll out booster shots to halt a resurgent spread of the virus. A growing number of countries, such as Sweden and Greece, are studying this possibility.
“We don’t have a full set of evidence around whether this is needed or not,” said Kate O’Brien, who heads the WHO’s vaccination division. The main reason for the growing infections isn’t the failure of vaccines, but rather the easing of other health measures, she added.
In high income countries, 101 doses per 100 people have been injected so far. That figure drops to 1.7 doses per 100 people in the 29 lowest-income countries.