Geneva: More than 5.7 billion covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally, but only 2% of them in Africa, according to World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
For the record, the United Nations (UN) agency is urging every country to vaccinate at least 40% of its population by the end of this year.
At a press conference on covid-19 and vaccine equity in Africa, Ghebreyesus informed that, so far, just two countries in Africa have reached the 40% target, the lowest of any region.
"That’s not because African countries don’t have the capacity or experience to roll out covid-19 vaccines. It’s because they've been left behind by the rest of the world," he said here on Tuesday.
Ghebreyesus explained that this leaves people exposed to a deadly virus against which many other people around the world enjoy protection.
For him, the longer vaccine inequity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and changing, the longer the social and economic disruption will continue, and the higher the chances that more variants will emerge that render vaccines less effective.
To avoid this situation, last year WHO partnered with UNICEF, CEPI, GAVI and others to create COVAX.
So far, the initiative has shipped more than 260 million doses to 141 countries.
Ghebreyesus pointed to several challenges, with manufacturers prioritizing bilateral deals and many high-income countries tying up the global supply of shots.
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