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News > Switzerland

WHO Critical of Booster Doses While Millions Lack the First Shot

  • Earlier this month, WHO called for a moratorium on booster shots of antiviral vaccines to help alleviate the drastic inequality in dose distribution between rich and poor countries. The organization's efforts have not stopped several countries from moving forward with plans to add the booster dose.

    Earlier this month, WHO called for a moratorium on booster shots of antiviral vaccines to help alleviate the drastic inequality in dose distribution between rich and poor countries. The organization's efforts have not stopped several countries from moving forward with plans to add the booster dose. | Photo: Twitter @ISRreports

Published 18 August 2021
Opinion

Earlier this month, WHO called for a moratorium on booster shots of antiviral vaccines to help alleviate the drastic inequality in dose distribution between rich and poor countries. The organization's efforts have not stopped several countries from moving forward with plans to add the booster dose.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has criticized the rush by rich countries to provide booster doses of antiviral vaccines, while millions of people worldwide have not received a single dose.

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WHO experts insisted that there was insufficient scientific evidence to support the additional vaccine shortly before U.S. authorities announced that all of its vaccinated citizens would soon be eligible for a booster dose. Providing the booster doses while so many people were still waiting to be immunized was immoral, the experts said.

Dr. Mike Ryan, director of WHO's health emergencies program, drawing an analogy, said, "We are planning to hand out extra life jackets to people who already have life jackets while leaving other people to drown without a single vest."

"The fundamental ethical reality is that we are handing out second life jackets while leaving millions and millions of people unprotected," he commented.

Earlier this month, WHO called for a moratorium on booster shots of antiviral vaccines to help alleviate the drastic inequality in dose distribution between rich and poor countries. The organization's efforts have not stopped several countries from moving forward with plans to add the booster dose.

U.S. officials, who warned that the effectiveness of the anti-COVID-19 vaccination has declined over time, said Wednesday that they had authorized booster doses for Americans starting Sept. 20. The dose would be administered eight months after a person has completed his or her vaccination schedule.

Washington had already authorized an additional dose for people with weakened immune systems. Israel has also begun administering third doses to people over the age of 50.

However, WHO experts insisted that the science was still unclear on booster doses of antiviral vaccines and stressed that it was far more important to ensure that people in low-income countries received vaccines.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said it was critical to ensure first doses and protect the most vulnerable before giving booster doses. "The gap between the haves and have-nots will only widen if manufacturers and leaders prioritize booster doses oversupply to low- and middle-income countries," he said.

The WHO director-general expressed outrage at reports that the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine being produced in South Africa was being shipped to Europe, "where virtually all adults have been offered vaccines at this point."

"We urge Johnson & Johnson to urgently prioritize the distribution of its vaccines in Africa before considering supplying wealthy countries that already have availability. The vaccine injustice is a disgrace to all of humanity and if we do not address it together, we will prolong the acute stage of this pandemic for years, when it could be over in a matter of months," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

South African NGOs have denounced shipments of "vaccine apartheid" when less than 2% of the 1.3 billion Africans have been fully vaccinated so far.

Millions of doses produced in South Africa have been exported since March to Europe and the United States, several NGOs said in a joint statement Tuesday.

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