• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Thursday, November 30, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

WHO Seeks 10 Mn Vaccine Doses ‘Immediately’ for Last Nations

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
03/26/21
in World
A person receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

A person receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Photo: AFP/Getty

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The World Health Organization called Friday for the donation of 10 million Covid-19 vaccine doses so every country can start immunizing within the first 100 days of 2021, as cases rise worldwide.

The UN health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a rush to secure vaccines had delayed deliveries that Covax, the scheme for getting jabs to poorer nations, had been counting on.

“Bilateral deals, export bans, vaccine nationalism and vaccine diplomacy have caused distortions in the market, with gross inequities in supply and demand,” he told reporters.

Tedros urged those countries that could do so to donate spare doses to the Covax facility.

The WHO director-general had called for all countries in the world to begin vaccinating within the first 100 days of the year, but said that with 15 days left, 36 countries had still yet to receive a single dose.

Sixteen of those are scheduled to receive their first doses through Covax within the next two weeks, he said, adding that the other 20 countries were still likely to miss out.

However, reaching the 100-day goal was still possible, Tedros said. 

“Covax needs 10 million doses immediately as an urgent stop-gap measure so these 20 countries can start vaccinating their health workers and older people within the next two weeks,” he said.

‘Not enough’

Addressing countries with doses of vaccines that have received WHO’s emergency-use listing authorization — meaning they can be used by Covax — he asked that they “donate as many doses as they can to help us meet that target”.

“Ten million doses is not much and it is not nearly enough, but it is a start,” he said.

Bruce Aylward, the WHO lead on Covax, recalled that many countries had contracted “a large number of doses that go beyond the needs for their own countries.

“What we are hoping… is that they will be able to start discussing sharing larger numbers of doses through Covax to be able to vaccinate populations everywhere.”

In addition to doses, Covax is also urgently seeking some $2.3 billion to be able to procure and close the deals it has already struck with vaccine manufacturers. 

The Covax global vaccine-sharing scheme is aimed at ensuring that 92 of the poorest countries in the world can access vaccines, with the cost covered by donors.

The scheme intends to distribute enough doses to vaccinate up to 27 percent of their populations by the end of the year.

India licensing delay ‘understandable’

It was supposed to deliver some 238 million doses by the end of May, with the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine produced in India and South Korea accounting for nearly all of them.

However, Covax facility co-leader Gavi said Thursday that New Delhi was holding up export licences from the Serum Institute of India (SII), where the vaccine is made, amid an increase in domestic demand as cases in the vast country rise.

As a result, Covax shipments planned for the rest of March and April have been delayed.

Tedros came to India’s defense on Friday, insisting: “It is not an export ban.”

“The number of cases in India is on the increase, so they need more vaccines to use locally,” he said, stressing that “that’s understandable”.

He said the WHO was in talks with India to ensure “a balance so they can use locally, (and) at the same time continue to provide other countries vaccines from the SII.”

The concerns around vaccine shortages have been heightened by the fact that Covid-19 cases around the world have been on the rise again for weeks, as new, more contagious variants spread.

“We are seeing signs of increasing transmission around the world,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO technical lead on Covid-19, told reporters.

“We are still in the acute phase of the pandemic.”

Biden to End Covid Vaccine Priority Group Restrictions by May 1: US Official
ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

‘Deaths of Despair:’ Why Are US Suicides on the Rise?
Opinion

An Inspired Choice to Lead the CDC

by Edward C. Halperin
June 13, 2023
A woman undergoing COVID test in China
Featured

Soaring Covid Cases Shine Light on China’s Healthcare Gap

by Staff Writer
January 11, 2023
European Medicines Agency
World

EU Watchdog Approves Second Covid Booster for Over 80s

by Staff Writer
April 6, 2022
A supermarket in Glendale, California
Opinion

Why Some Inflated Prices Won’t Come Down: Ramen and Eggs Tell the Tale

by Justin Fendos
March 9, 2022
WHO
World

WHO Urges Rich Countries to Pay Up for Covid Plan

by Staff Writer
February 9, 2022
Mask making
National

US Sets Global Record of Over 1 Mn Daily Covid-19 Cases

by Staff Writer
January 4, 2022
Next Post
An Indonesian anti-terror policeman stands guard following an explosion outside a church in Makassar, March 28, 2021.

Explosion Outside Cathedral in Indonesia: Media

WHO director-general Adhanom Ghebreyesus shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, January 28 2020.

WHO and China: A Healthy Relationship?

Recommended

Dutch politician Geert Wilders

Xenophobia in the Netherlands? Unpacking the PVV’s Surprising Success

November 28, 2023
Ukraine war

NATO Chief Says ‘No Alternative’ to Helping Ukraine Stop Putin

November 27, 2023
Migrants stranded at the Finland border

Russia Warns of a ‘Crisis’ at Arctic Border With Finland

November 22, 2023
People march against climate change in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on October 13, 2018.

Earth to Warm Up to 2.9C Even With Current Climate Pledges: UN

November 20, 2023
A woman in Singapore checks her mobile

Singapore and Indonesia Launch Cross-Border QR-Code Payments

November 17, 2023
This illustration picture shows the AI (Artificial Intelligence) smartphone app ChatGPT surrounded by other AI Apps in Vaasa, on June 6, 2023

AI Images of White Faces Are Now ‘Hyper-Real’: Study

November 13, 2023

Opinion

Dutch politician Geert Wilders

Xenophobia in the Netherlands? Unpacking the PVV’s Surprising Success

November 28, 2023
Afghan refugees

The Blessed and Cursed Randomness of Our Lives

October 25, 2023
Joe Biden

The ‘Polycrisis’ Challenge: Biden’s Vision for Global Problem-Solving

September 26, 2023
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

The Ominous (and Irresponsible) Chatter of a Civil War 

September 4, 2023
A bamboo-based design raises family homes safely above water levels to cope with raising water levels in Bangladesh.

The West Owes Climate Refugees Reparations Now

August 14, 2023
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Boxing Day Comes to South Florida

July 5, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post