Prosperous countries have received the vast majority of the global supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses, while poor countries have received less than 1%, the World Health Organization said at a news conference on Friday.
Of the 700 million vaccine doses distributed around the world, “more than 87% have gone to high or middle income countries, while low-income countries have received only 0.2%,” said WHO Director General. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
According to Tedros, an average of 1 in 4 people in high-income countries has received a coronavirus vaccine, compared to just 1 in more than 500 in low-income countries.
“There remains a shocking imbalance in the global distribution of vaccines,” he said.
Tedros said there is a dose shortage for COVAX, a global alliance aimed at supplying poor countries with coronavirus vaccines.
“We understand that some countries and companies plan to donate their own bilateral vaccinations, bypassing COVAX for their own political or commercial reasons,” said Tedros. “These bilateral agreements run the risk of fueling the flames of vaccine inequality.”
Tedros said COVAX partners – including WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – are pursuing strategies to accelerate production and delivery.
The alliance seeks donations from countries with vaccine oversupply, is accelerating assessment of more vaccines and discusses ways to expand global manufacturing capacity with several countries, said Tedros and Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley.