According to the World Health Organization, to date, 5 and a half billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have already been introduced in the world.
This information was announced on September 8 by WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus at a press conference.
Of those 5 and a half billion doses of vaccines, 80% of the vaccine doses are in middle- and high-income countries, he said.
Ghebreyesus recalled that the global goal of WHO is to have 10% of the population vaccinated in each country by the end of September, 40% by the end of this year, and 70% by mid-2022.
Most rich countries, according to the head of the WHO, have already reached 40 percent of the vaccination rate of the population, while no low-income country has even 10 percent vaccinated.
And this is not their fault, – said the head of the organization, noting with regret that very little is being done for vaccine equality, about which so much has been said.
Rich countries have pledged to donate a billion doses of vaccines, Gebreyesus said, but less than 15% of what was promised has been donated so far.
The head of WHO also recalled that vaccine manufacturers have pledged to prioritize the Covax mechanism and low-income countries.
Enough with us promises, we do not want promises, we just want a vaccine, – said Gebreyesus.
Covax is an international mechanism launched by WHO in conjunction with GAVI and CEPI that supports the creation of manufacturing facilities and procurement of vaccines. Under the terms of the program, rich countries pay for vaccines for poor countries.
