International
WHO boss accuses rich countries of undermining equitable vaccine distribution
“Having the money doesn’t mean anything if you can’t use it to buy vaccines”
The WHO boss on Monday accused “certain rich countries of undermining” the equitable distribution system for anti-Covid vaccines, Covax, by persisting in approaching manufacturers directly to have access to more precious doses.
“Some wealthy countries are currently approaching manufacturers to ensure access to additional vaccine doses, which has an effect on contracts with Covax, and the number of doses allocated to Covax has been reduced to because of that “, criticized the managing director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a joint press conference by videoconference with the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The Covax system was set up to try to prevent rich countries from monopolizing all the doses of vaccine that are still manufactured in too small a quantity to meet global demand.
The Covax system includes a financing mechanism that should allow 92 low and middle income economies to have access to vaccines.
But the shortage of vaccines means that the first distributions to poor countries should not take place before the end of the month when in many rich countries vaccination campaigns began at the end of 2020.
Responding to a question on the substantial commitments made by the United States, the European Union and Germany to significantly increase their contribution to Covax, the Director-General showed his frustration.
“Having the money doesn’t mean anything, if you can’t use it to buy vaccines,” he said.
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