A World Health Organisation (WHO) senior adviser said Friday wealthy nations need to give more COVID-19 vaccines and follow the United States in making doses available immediately to cover a 200 million dose gap caused by Indian supply disruptions and manufacturing delays.
Warning of a “two-track recovery”, the WHO is urging wealthy countries to donate their surplus doses to poorer countries instead of giving them to less vulnerable groups, such as children. They have so far donated 150 million doses via the COVAX sharing scheme.
However, Bruce Aylward said on Friday that only a small portion of those doses will be available in the short-term in June, July and August when they can make a difference in slowing the pace of infections in the global pandemic.
