WHO = World Health Organization Secretary-General Tedros has expressed strong concern that the new coronavirus vaccine will not reach low-income countries, with healthcare workers and the elderly vaccinated in all countries by early April. He urged countries to work together to get started.
WHO Secretary-General Tedros said at an executive board meeting that began online on the 18th that high-income countries have received more than 39 million doses of the new coronavirus vaccine, but the lowest income. He revealed that only 25 doses are available in the country.
WHO and others have established a framework for distributing vaccines to countries around the world, including developing countries, but Secretary-General Tedros said that some countries have their own contracts with pharmaceutical companies outside the framework. He pointed out that the price of vaccines is rising.
He expressed strong concern about the unfair distribution of vaccines, saying, "The world is on the verge of making catastrophic ethical failures. The price is the lives and livelihoods of the poor."
"It is not right for young and healthy adults in high-income countries to vaccinate before health care workers and older people in poor countries," he said, providing vaccines to the international distribution framework. He appealed to all countries that by early April, health care workers and the elderly should work together to start vaccination.