WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the inequality of access to Covid-19 vaccines between rich and poor countries "is widening" and "grotesque".
"We have the means to avoid this failure, but it is shocking how little has been done to prevent it," he added.
The inequality of access to anti-Covid vaccines between rich and poor countries "widens" and becomes "grotesque", affirmed Monday the head of the WHO, warning that in this way the virus can take the world hostage during several more years.
“In January, I declared that the world was on the brink of catastrophic moral failure if urgent measures were not taken to ensure equitable distribution of Covid vaccines. We have the means to avoid this failure, but it is shocking how little has been done to prevent it, "Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.
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"Some countries are racing to vaccinate their entire population while other countries have nothing"
"The gap between the number of vaccines administered in rich countries and the number of vaccines administered via Covax is widening and becoming more grotesque every day," he added.
The international Covax system, created in particular by the WHO, aims to provide doses this year to 20% of the population of nearly 200 countries and territories, and includes a funding mechanism to help 92 disadvantaged countries.
"Countries that are currently vaccinating younger, healthy, low-risk people of Covid-19 are doing so at the expense of the lives of healthcare workers, the elderly and other at-risk groups in others. countries, "said the head of the WHO.
"Poorer countries wonder if rich countries really mean what they say when they talk about solidarity. The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not only moral outrage. It is also economically and epidemiologically self-destructive." , he insisted.
"Some countries are racing to vaccinate their entire population while other countries have nothing. This can provide short-term security, but it is a false sense of security," said the director general of the 'WHO.
The more the Covid circulates, the more variants that circulate and emerge, the more likely it is that existing vaccines will not be effective, he explained.
"Sharing vaccines is in the interest of all countries"
More than 430 million doses have been administered worldwide, including more than a quarter in the United States, according to an AFP report.
Israel is by far the most advanced country, with nearly 60% of its population having received at least one injection.
Globally, only 0.1% of the doses administered worldwide were in "low income" countries, while "high income" countries (16% of the world population) concentrate more than half of the doses. injected.
"If we don't end this pandemic as quickly as possible, it can hold us hostage for many years to come. That's why we say vaccine sharing is in the interest of all countries." , hammered Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Last year, he recalled, many countries pledged to make the vaccine a public good.
"There have been a lot of promises, of support for vaccine equity," he added, calling on leaders to "walk the talk".
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The WHO chief also called for increasing vaccine production as quickly as possible.
"So far, AstraZeneca is the only company that has committed not to benefit from its vaccine against Covid-19 during the pandemic," noted Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
It is also, he said, "the only vaccine developer who has contributed significantly to vaccine equity by licensing (...) several other companies", including SK Bio in Korea. Sud and the Serum Institute of India, which produce more than 90% of the vaccines distributed so far by Covax.