Rich Countries Race To Master Covid-19 Vaccines, WHO: Great Moral Failure

Vaccine illustration. (hakan nural / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has criticized the race for rich countries to secure millions of doses of the COVOD-19 vaccine.

He said before the WHO Executive Council, more than 39 million doses of the vaccine had been given in "at least" 49 high-income countries. And, only 25 doses were given in one 'low-income' country.

"Not 25 million, not 25 thousand, only 25. I have to be frank, the world is on the brink of catastrophic moral failure. The price of this failure will be paid with the lives and livelihoods of the world's poorest countries," he said without specifying which country. in question, launched euronews.

Although the government should prioritize the vaccination of health workers and the elderly, he continued, it is not true that younger, healthier adults in wealthy countries are vaccinated before health workers and the elderly in poor countries.

He further said that the world needs to avoid the mistakes made in the HIV and H1N1 pandemic, by stating that some countries and companies have prioritized 'bilateral deals' that raise prices.

He also said that pharmaceutical companies have prioritized approval with rich countries, regarding the vaccines they have, rather than submitting files (vaccine development) to WHO. Although, WHO itself has the WHO COVAX.

"WHO's COVAX program was developed to help distribute vaccines to poor countries, securing two billion doses from five producers," he said.

He added that the success of developing a vaccine just a year after a pandemic that has killed two million people worldwide is an amazing scientific achievement and hope for the future.