The poorest countries face large deficits
Tunisia and Palestine are among the first to receive the "Corona" vaccine from "Kovax"
A medical employee in an intensive care unit in the Tunisian capital.
A.F.B.
The World Health Organization said that the Palestinian territories and Tunisia will benefit from the first batch of vaccines against the emerging corona virus (Covid-19), provided by the Kovacs initiative, but the poorest countries in the Middle East face a large deficit in terms of providing early vaccination.
The Director of Emergency Operations for the Eastern Mediterranean Region at the World Health Organization, Rick Brennan, said that the Palestinian territories are expected to receive 37,000 doses of the "Covid-19" vaccine, which is produced by "Pfizer" and "Biontech", starting from mid-February through Kovacs initiative, while Tunisia is scheduled to receive 93,600 doses.
The World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines (GAVI) launched the Kovacs initiative, to ensure equitable access to "Covid-19" vaccines worldwide.
Brennan explained in an interview with "Reuters" that, nevertheless, there is a very large gap between the planned launch of vaccines in rich countries and countries with low incomes or conflicts.
The Eastern Mediterranean region of the World Health Organization includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Djibouti, in addition to the countries of the Middle East.
"We are particularly concerned about low- and middle-income countries," Brennan said. "Available and funding is not yet on the go.
We suffer from severe deficiencies ».
He stressed that the delay in providing vaccines to poor countries increases the risk of the spread of mutated strains of the Corona virus, which can be spread faster and more difficult to treat.
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"Global Health": "The financing of vaccines is not at the required level ... and we suffer from severe shortcomings."
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