The pressure from the World Health Organization (WHO) is now on the 20 most powerful leaders and pharmaceutical chiefs in the world, to reverse the skewed distribution of vaccines throughout the autumn.
WHO believes that this is necessary to avoid a deadly wave through the winter, according to CNN.
Senior adviser to the Director-General of the WHO, Bruce Aylward, says that there is a “shameful” skewed distribution of the vaccines, and believes that the world should be “repulsed” by the inequality in the means the countries have to fight the corona pandemic.
Alarms: «Humanitarian disaster»
Aimed at the West
He especially criticizes the western countries, and asks them to focus on the countries that have not come as far in the vaccination.
Only 1.1 percent of people in all developing countries have received at least one dose of vaccine. The WHO’s goal is for at least 10 percent of the world’s population to be fully vaccinated by September.
– I think that if we had tried to hold back vaccines in some parts of the world, would it have been worse than it is today? says Aylward according to CNN.
He is responsible for allocating resources to protect himself against the coronavirus to developing countries.
SHAMEFUL: Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the Director-General of the WHO, believes that the distribution of vaccines in the world is shameful, with far too many differences. Photo: Denis Balibouse / Reuters / NTB
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– Remains unprotected
Aylward’s statement comes just one week after WHO Director – General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged wealthy countries to wait by giving its inhabitants a third dose of vaccine, up to 10 percent of the world’s population has been vaccinated.
– I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the delta variant. But we can not accept that countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines use even more of it, while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected, Ghebreyesus said.
– The virus faster than vaccines
At home in Norway, Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie states NRK Wednesday that if it should become relevant and necessary with a third vaccine dose, Norway will take the measure into use.
– There are no good reasons to weaken Norway’s protection against the coronavirus because other countries have not come far enough in their vaccination program, Høie says to the state channel.
According to the WHO chief, it has not been scientifically proven that a third dose for those who have received two prevents the spread of corona infection.
The WHO wants plans to put a third dose on hold, at least until September, so that all countries in the world will have the opportunity to give at least 10 percent of their citizens the first dose.
WHO’s vaccine prayer: This is how Norway answers
– No position taken
Last week, the Norwegian health authorities stated to Dagbladet that it’s too early to take a position on the WHO’s call to wait with a third dose.
– We have not taken a position on the specific request from the WHO, but consider this to be premature anyway, as it is not relevant with a third dose to all adult Norwegians at present, wrote State Secretary Saliba Andreas Korkunc in an e-mail.
The UN has long criticized the world’s rich countries for pursuing a nationalist policy which means that poorer countries have received far fewer corona vaccines than countries that have had enough resources to secure deliveries from vaccine manufacturers.
According to experts, everyone will lose out on this, as it will take longer to get the pandemic under control, and give a greater risk of mutations.
At the same time as several countries in Europe and the USA demand that certain groups in society must be vaccinated, there are several countries in the world that have not been vaccinated near as many as in several western countries.
New outbreaks – millions in lockdown
– Need more
Compared with Norway, where 37.55 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, most of the countries in Africa below 10 per cent of the population have received two doses of vaccine. It shows numbers from Johns Hopkins University.
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In February, the G7 countries, which consist of the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, had only promised to give away 130 million doses. During a summit in mid-June, they added 870 million doses. However, the need is for 11 billion doses, according to experts.
Had large-scale celebration: – Hypocritical
– This is a great help, but we need more, and we need them faster. “Right now, the virus is moving faster than the global distribution of vaccines,” the WHO chief said at a news conference on Monday.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) questions how serious the G7 countries are when it comes to achieving a more even vaccine distribution.
“We need to see more clarity about the actual number of doses given, and exactly how long it will take to turn promises into a real effect and access,” said Hu Yuanqiong of MSF.
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