WHO "Vaccination Gap Widening, Beyond Moral Issue to Economic and Epidemiological Self-Destruction"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The World Health Organization (WHO) criticized the gap in COVID-19 vaccination rates between countries, calling it an "economic and epidemiological self-destruction beyond moral atrocity."

On the 22nd (local time), WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "The vaccination rates in wealthy countries and those in poor countries through COVAX (the international project for joint vaccine purchase and distribution) are increasingly diverging and becoming more absurd."

He particularly pointed out that vulnerable groups in poor countries are being sacrificed as wealthy countries secure most of the vaccines for vaccinating their general populations.

Director-General Ghebreyesus raised his voice, saying, "Wealthy countries are vaccinating young and healthy people at the expense of healthcare workers, the elderly, and vulnerable groups in other countries," adding, "The unequal distribution of vaccines is economic and epidemiological self-destruction beyond moral atrocity."

In the United States, there is a forecast that although enough vaccines to vaccinate 70% of the global population will be produced by the end of this year, the monopoly by some countries will delay the end of COVID-19. The Duke University Global Health Innovation Center stated in a report released that day, "If vaccines are supplied equitably, the end of COVID-19 could come sooner than expected."

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