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‘Moral catastrophe’: WHO slams rich nations for vaccinating kids, urges them to donate jabs to Covax
The WHO chief termed the Covid-19 situation in India “hugely concerning” as several states continue to record a “worrying number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged wealthy countries to stop inoculating children and adolescents against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and instead donate vaccines to poorer nations. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticised the move by some rich countries to vaccinate lower risk groups, calling it a “moral catastrophe.” Dr Tedros highlighted that vaccine supply in lower- and lower-middle-income countries has not been enough to vaccinate even health care workers.
“In January, I spoke about the potential unfolding of a moral catastrophe. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing this play out,” the WHO chief told a press briefing.
“In a handful of rich countries, which bought up the majority of the vaccine supply, lower-risk groups are now being vaccinated,” he added, in a criticism apparently directed towards the United States which is now planning to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday recommended expanded usage of Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds after the Food and Drug Administration authorised its emergency use for that age group. CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a statement that though most children with Covid-19 have mild or no symptoms, some children can get severely ill and require hospitalisation.
“This official CDC action opens vaccination to approximately 17 million adolescents in the United States and strengthens our nation’s efforts to protect even more people from the effects of Covid-19,” the statement read.
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Dr Tedros recalled how the health agency was labelled by some as alarmist when it warned about the threat of vaccine nationalism. The fact that so many health workers, who have been fighting the pandemic for more than a year, are still not immunised against the deadly virus is a “sad reflection on the gross distortion in access to vaccines across the globe,” he lamented.
“I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to COVAX,” said the WHO director-general, adding that, at present, only 0.3% of vaccine supply is going to low-income countries.
Dr Tedros termed the Covid-19 situation in India “hugely concerning” as several states continue to record a “worrying number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths.” He said that the UN health agency has shipped thousands of oxygen concentrators, tents for mobile field hospitals, masks and other medical supplies to help India in its fight against Covid-19. He went on to add that it’s not only India that has emergency needs as countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam are also dealing with spikes in cases and hospitalisations.
