- Deaths from Covid are declining in every region except Europe, but vaccine inequities continue to plague much of the developing world.
- Three countries – Burundi, Eritrea, and North Korea – have yet to start distributing vaccines.
- Unvaccinated people are roughly 4.5 times likelier to catch Covid as well
Deaths from Covid are declining in every region except Europe, but vaccine inequities continue to plague much of the developing world, as reported by CNBC.
COVID vaccines distribution to cease
According to Tedros, 56 nations failed to fulfill the WHO’s objective of vaccinating 10% of their populations against Covid by the end of September, and mortality has been highest in countries with the least access to vaccines.
“And the real figure is surely higher.”
He called on wealthier countries to stop giving Covid booster shots on Wednesday to help the WHO accomplish its objective of immunizing 40% of the world’s population by the end of the year.
“Achieving 40% requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, which relies on political and civil society leadership,” Tedros explained.
Global vaccine inequities
For weeks, WHO authorities have been denouncing the global distribution of Covid boosters in the hopes of reallocating surplus vaccines to low-income countries and preventing future outbreaks and variations.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke at a WHO Covid briefing, calling global vaccine disparities “immoral” and “dumb,” and warning that low vaccination rates in the developing world could promote the mutation of vaccine-resistant Covid variants.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die from Covid and are 10 times more likely to need hospitalization for their symptoms.
Unvaccinated people are roughly 4.5 times likelier to catch Covid as well, the CDC found.
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Source: CNBC
