Halt the boosters: WHO says it is 'unacceptable' that some countries are using most of vaccine's global supply
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It is the strongest statement yet from the WHO at a time when countries deliberate the need for boosters to combat the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus
Calling for a halt on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that ''we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it.''
The call for a moratorium comes as the gap between vaccinations in wealthy and poor countries widens.
It is the strongest statement yet from the UN agency at a time when countries deliberate the need for boosters to combat the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus.
High-income countries administered around 50 doses for every 100 people in May, and that number has since doubled, according to WHO. Low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people, due to lack of supply.
"We need an urgent reversal from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries to the majority going to low-income countries," Tedros said.
To counter the spread of the Delta variant, some countries have begun to use or started weighing on the need for booster doses even as scientists debate over whether or not extra shots are needed.
"The fact that we are vaccinating healthy adults with a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines is a short-sighted way of thinking," said Elin Hoffmann Dahl, infectious diseases medical adviser to Medecins Sans Frontieres' access campaign.
"With the emergence of new variants, if we continue to leave the majority of the world unvaccinated, we will most definitely need adjusted vaccines in the future," Dahl told Reuters.
Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog received the third shot of the coronavirus vaccine, kicking off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 in the country.
Meanwhile, the United States signed a deal with Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech in July to buy 200 million additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to help with pediatric vaccination as well as possible booster shots.
(With inputs from agencies)