The unjust distribution of the coronavirus vaccines in favor of richer economies has been a matter of grave concern to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is trying to work out the issue through its COVAX global initiative aimed at equitable access to the vaccines, the WHO head said on Thursday.
"COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to reduce severe disease and death, and early results suggest that they might also drive down transmission.
Yet, their inequitable distribution means the richest countries have received 83% of vaccines, while lower-middle-income and low-income countries have received only 17%, despite being home to nearly half the world's population.
WHO is working hard to address this disparity through the COVAX Facility and other global initiatives," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the COVID-19 Global Research & Innovation Forum. COVAX Managing Director Aurelia Nguyen said in April that the facility was targeting to distribute 2 billion doses this year.
However, it struggled to mobilize support needed from wealthy nations to subsidize its program and has only secured orders for 1.07 billion doses so far.
