Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
The WHO said it is supporting the remaining five countries that have not yet started their Covid-19 immunization campaigns, as 3 billion doses of vaccine were vaccinated globally on Tuesday.
Burundi, Eritrea, Haiti, North Korea and Tanzania have not yet started vaccinations. These countries are the only countries among the 194 member states of the World Health Organization that have not yet launched an immunization program to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
“WHO continues to support these countries in making decisions on the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine,” a spokesperson told AFP.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hopes that every country will start vaccinating its health workers and those most vulnerable to Covid-19 within the first 100 days of 2021 (that is, after April).
However, rich countries have taken up batches rolled off the production line, and this has left some countries waiting to manage their first dose.
Tedros said on Tuesday: “We are facing a dual-track epidemic that is exacerbated by inequality.”
The Covax facility is designed to ensure access to vaccines in poorer countries and has so far provided 89 million doses of vaccine to 133 participating regions.
But according to the WHO, which co-run the program, the supply line has almost dried up this month.
“The world is failing,” Tedros warned.
