WHO Official Calls on Rich Countries to Limit Procurement of First-Batch COVID-19 Vaccines

CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2020) The Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari in an interview with Sputnik called on higher income countries to limit their purchase of vaccines to 20% of their requirements during the initial stage of vaccine availability.

"We call on [high-income] countries to limit their purchase of vaccines to not exceed 20% of their requirements during the initial stage in order for us to provide the opportunity for other countries to benefit from the vaccine," Al-Mandhari started.

According to Al-Mandhari, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines should be made available in limited numbers, and should be dedicated to the exposed and high-risk segments of the population, specifically health care workers, the elderly, the chronically-ill and pregnant women, while other segments of the population should be inoculated once larger quantities of the vaccine become available in mid-2021.

"We stress that the fair distribution of vaccines guarantees the preservation of the health security of rich countries, because to put it simply, poor countries will be unable to obtain their share of the vaccine, which would imply that the world will still be exposed to the spread of the COVID-19 infection," Al-Mandhari remarked.

The WHO has been dedicated to granting lower income countries access to COVID-19 vaccines through the Advance-Market Commitment of the WHO co-led COVAX initiative, which intends to secure the funding needed to procure safe vaccines for the 92 eligible lower income countries participating in the initiative.