Of the 194 countries in the WHO, about half will not reach this target. In about 40 countries, less than 10% of the population has been vaccinated.
The WHO blames the accumulation of vaccines in this situation, especially in the rich western countries, where primary vaccination has already begun.
More than 8.6 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been used worldwide to date, but most of the rich countries have had enough resources to contract with vaccine manufacturers.
Dozens of countries rely on supplies from the UN-backed vaccine program COVAX, which aims to make vaccines available in poor countries.
Wealthy countries have been criticized for not providing enough support for COVAX and global equality in access to vaccines.
However, COVAX vaccine deliveries have increased in recent weeks. By the last week of December, COVAX had delivered 722 million doses.
While 171 doses of the vaccine were used per 100 inhabitants in Germany, less than 2.7 doses per 100 inhabitants were used in Madagascar, but only 0.32 doses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The pharmaceutical industry believes that the lack of vaccines is not to blame for these sharp differences.
The Federation of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA) estimates that 1.4 billion doses of vaccine were produced in December alone.
The federation points out that in many countries the public is skeptical about vaccination and in many there are problems with the distribution of vaccines.
However, the WHO states that many countries would be prepared to receive vaccination if they received doses in an organized and timely manner.
Many rich countries have promised to donate a total of more than a billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine. However, according to the WHO, it often takes a long time for these promises to be fulfilled. Some of the vaccine doses donated also have a short period of expiration, which makes it even more difficult to distribute and use these doses in poor countries.
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