More than 5.7 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally, but only 2% of them in Africa, said Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The UN agency is urging every country to vaccinate at least 40% of its population by the end of this year, and hopes to help ensure that 70% of the world’s population is by the middle of next year.
Dr. Ghebreyesus informed that Africa, which is home to more than 1.2 billion people, has so far just two countries (in Africa) have reached the 40% target, the lowest of any region.
Dr. Ghebreyesus explained that “this leaves people at high risk of disease and death, exposed to a deadly virus against which many other people around the world enjoy protection.”
To avoid this situation, last year WHO partnered with UNICEF, CEPI, GAVI and others to create COVAX. So far, the initiative has shipped more than 260 million doses to 141 countries. A similar initiative has established by the African Union, the COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, known as AVAT, he highlighted.
He called on manufacturers to prioritize COVAX and AVAT. The WHO chief also called on all countries and manufacturers to share information on bilateral deals, supply and delivery projections and to recognize all vaccines with a WHO Emergency Use Listing.
