Senior officials of the World Health Organization stated that there is insufficient evidence that a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine is needed and called for the scarce vaccine to be shared with poor countries that have not yet immunized their people, rather than being used by rich countries. Booster.
At the press conference, WHO Director-General Tan Desai said that the absurd vaccine gap in the world is caused by “greed” because he called on pharmaceutical manufacturers to give priority to their vaccines. Coronavirus disease Provide vaccines to poor countries instead of lobbying rich countries to use more doses.His request coincided with a pharmaceutical company seeking authorization to use the third dose as a booster in some Western countries, including the United States.
“We are now making a conscious choice not to protect those in need,” Tedros said, adding that the top priority must be to vaccinate people who have not yet received a single dose.
He called on Pfizer and Moderna to “go all out to provide services to COVAX, the African Vaccine Procurement Working Group, and low-income and middle-income countries with very low coverage,” referring to the UN-supported initiative to distribute vaccines on a global scale.
Tan Desai said that after the global coronavirus death toll has declined for 10 consecutive weeks, the number of COVID-19 patients dying every day has begun to climb again, and the highly contagious delta variant is “triggering a catastrophic wave of cases.”
Both Pfizer and Moderna agreed to supply a small amount of vaccine to COVAX, but most of their vaccines are retained by rich countries. In recent months, efforts supported by the United Nations have been severely shaken, vaccination efforts in nearly 60 poor countries have stalled, and their largest vaccine suppliers cannot share any doses before the end of the year.
Pfizer met with senior US officials on Monday to discuss its plan to seek permission for the third dose. Last week, the company stated that boosters can significantly improve immunity and may help protect against worrying mutations-although US health authorities have emphasized that fully vaccinated Americans are strongly protected, not yet Need a booster.
The company said in a statement on Monday evening: “Pfizer and the US government both have a sense of urgency to stay ahead of the virus that causes COVID-19, and we also agree that scientific data will determine the next step.”
It is not uncommon for manufacturers to notify regulators before submitting new data. A US government spokesperson said that this information is just one of the evidence used by the authorities in deciding whether, when, and for whom boosters may be needed.
The UK is also considering implementing a possible booster vaccination program in the fall, which may target the most vulnerable people over the age of 50.
But the top experts of the World Health Organization questioned whether fully immunized people need to be strengthened.
“At this point… there is no scientific evidence that boosters are definitely needed,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist. Swaminatan said that the WHO will make recommendations on booster doses if needed, but any such recommendations “must be based on science and data, not on the individual company’s announcement that the vaccine should now be a booster dose.”
Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s head of emergency, suggested that if rich countries decide to give booster injections instead of donating to developing countries, “we will look back angrily. I think we will look back with shame.”
He said that the failure to increase vaccine production capacity, coupled with the refusal of rich countries to share vaccines with poor countries, is very disappointing.
He said: “These are the people who want to own a cake and eat it.” “Then they made some cakes and they wanted to eat it too.”
Given that the spread of COVID-19 is now seen in some African countries, some people call the idea of intensifying injections morally offensive.
Tom Hart, acting chief executive of the advocacy organization ONE campaign, pointed out that only 1% of people in poor countries have received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
“The idea that a healthy, vaccinated person can get a booster before a nurse or grandmother in South Africa can get a booster shot,” he said.
© 2021 Canadian Press
