New Delhi (NVI): As several countries have rolled out coronavirus vaccines, World Health Organization (WHO) chief has questioned the unequal Covid-19 vaccine policies and said that the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure.
Speaking during the WHO’s executive board virtual meeting, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world`s poorest countries.”
“It was not fair for younger, healthy people in richer nations to get injections before vulnerable people in poorer states,” he added.
He said over 39 million vaccine doses had been given in 49 richer states – but one poor nation had only 25 doses.
Till date, China, India, Russia, the UK and the US have all developed coronavirus vaccines, with others being made by multinational teams.
Almost all of these nations have prioritised distribution to their own populations.
Tedros said that these actions will not help in stopping the spread of coronavirus but will only prolong the pandemic.
Meanwhile, both the WHO and China were criticised for their Covid response.
An independent panel commissioned by the WHO said the UN public health body should have declared an international emergency earlier, and also rapped China for not taking public health measures sooner.
-CHK
