Story at a glance
- The moratorium is meant to help get at least 10 percent of the population of every country vaccinated.
- “I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
- A growing number of countries are turning to booster shots as the highly contagious delta variant spreads around the globe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for a moratorium on COVID-19 booster shots due to vaccine inequity between wealthier and poorer nations.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday called for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September to allow at least 10 percent of the population of every country to be vaccinated.
“So far, more than 4 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally. More than 80 percent have gone to high- and upper-middle income countries, even though they account for less than half of the world’s population,” Tedros said during a news briefing in Geneva.
“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the delta variant. but we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it,” Tedros said.
The WHO officials said the world is about halfway through hitting its goal of vaccinating 10 percent of the population of every country, but was not on track to hit the goal by September.
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He said while high-income countries have now administered nearly 100 doses for every 100 people, low-income countries have only given 1.5 shots for every 100 people, due to lack of vaccine supply.
“We need an urgent reversal, from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries, to the majority going to low-income countries,” Tedros added.
A growing number of countries are turning to booster shots as the highly contagious delta variant spreads around the globe. Israel recently started administering booster shots to the elderly, while Germany announced plans to offer the shot to a wide range of people considered potentially vulnerable next month.
In the U.S., public health officials have said there’s no evidence a booster is needed at this time.
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