WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that the WHO is calling for a halt to the use of COVID-19 vaccines until at least the end of September, citing inequality in the global vaccination campaign.
The move is aimed at enabling at least 10 percent of each country’s population to have a chance of getting a vaccine, Tedros said.
Catherine O’Brien, director of the WHO’s Immunization and Biologicals Vaccines, told reporters during a conference call from Geneva.
Germany said in a statement on Monday that it will provide a booster dose against COVID-19 to vulnerable individuals such as retirees and people with compromised immune systems starting in September, using mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Britain and France are among other European countries that have discussed plans to offer an additional opportunity to citizens in the coming weeks.
Watch | Israel is moving forward with the use of enhanced shots for those over 60:
The World Health Organization is urging rich countries to stop giving boosters of the COVID-19 vaccine until the end of September to allow those shots to be transferred to countries that do not have enough vaccines. (Image source: Reuters / Zohra Bensemra) 0:59
Israel said last month it would offer a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to people over 60, becoming the first country in the world to mobilize for booster shots in the face of a highly contagious delta variant.
“I understand the interest of all governments in protecting their people from the delta variant,” Tedros said. “But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines by using more of them.”
Pfizer looks to get approval in the US
Pfizer, citing data from Israel on infections among vaccinators, said it believes people need an extra dose to keep protection against the coronavirus strong, as immunity from the original shots may wane after several months.
The company said it plans to apply for emergency US authorization for a booster dose imminently, but some top US health officials and the World Health Organization have called that plan premature.
“We don’t have a full set of evidence on whether or not this is necessary,” O’Brien said.
Health Canada said it was monitoring developments globally.
“There is not enough data to suggest that in Canada we will go on a boost yet,” Dr. Theresa Tam, Ottawa’s chief public health officer, said last week. “But it is something we monitor very carefully.”
‘Catching up with the rest of the world’ is essential: WHO
The World Health Organization has expressed fear of booster injections in rich countries for a number of weeks, but Wednesday’s call for a temporary moratorium was the strongest public comment yet on the topic.
“Catching up with the rest of the world” is vital, said Bruce Aylward, Tedros’ senior adviser. Aylward cited statistics showing that five per cent of those living in Africa had received a single shot of the vaccine, and only about 2 per cent were fully vaccinated.
Some countries have just started receiving vaccines either through COVAX, the UN-backed project to supply low- and middle-income countries, or directly from the United States. Other countries have a problem shooting guns because of gaps in infrastructure.
We can only get out of it if the whole world gets out of it together, said Aylward.
Aylward acknowledged in response to a reporter that the vaccine moratorium until September is not a long time frame, but that it will create momentum in tackling global vaccine inequality.
According to the World Health Organization, high-income countries administered about 50 doses per 100 people in May, and that number has doubled since then. Low-income countries were able to administer only 1.5 doses per 100 people.
Wrong choice: White House press secretary
The White House said Wednesday that it is ready to provide COVID-19 booster doses when they are needed, suggesting that it may not heed the WHO’s appeal.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Washington could provide booster doses, if approved for use in the United States, as well as donate excess supplies to other countries.
“We feel it’s a wrong choice and we can do both,” she said.
Several experts who spoke to Reuters last month said a booster dose would be necessary if there was a significant increase in hospital admissions or deaths among vaccinated people.
“This is the line of boosters,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a vaccine consultant for the FDA.
World Health Organization officials confirmed, on Wednesday, that vaccines provide strong protection against the spread of the Corona virus, including the delta variant.
While about 64,000 people died around the world last week, according to officially announced figures, this is a decrease from the previous week.
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