This archive report was first published on 22 October 2021.
Published on October 22, 2021, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) continues to sound the alarm over the disparity in vaccine access globally, with the world's poorest countries struggling to get even a first dose into their citizens' arms.
According to Gordon Brown, the former British prime minister and W.H.O. ambassador for global health financing, there is a shortfall of 500 million doses in the global South, while 240 million doses are lying unused in the West. The number of excess doses is projected to reach 600 million by the end of the year, Mr. Brown added.
Mr. Brown spoke on the same day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) endorsed booster shots of the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines for tens of millions in the United States.
Only nine countries in Africa had met a target of vaccinating 10 percent of their populations against Covid-19 by the end of September, the W.H.O. reported.
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the W.H.O. regional director for Africa, wrote in a Times guest essay, 'Wealthy countries must let go of reserved doses and cede their place in the queue, allowing Covax and the African Union to buy the vaccines the continent seeks and stands ready to finance.'
Mr. Brown called for military airlifts to help deliver unused doses to lower-income countries, particularly an estimated 100 million doses that had a use-by date before December and would otherwise end up being destroyed.
He and other health officials argue that low inoculation rates globally could undermine progress against the pandemic by creating room for the virus to mutate and spread.
The W.H.O. estimates that 11 billion Covid vaccine doses are needed worldwide to turn the tide of the pandemic, but so far production and distribution have been concentrated in Western countries.
On the other hand, residents of Melbourne, Australia, have spent more days in lockdown than people anywhere else in the world, with 262 days of restrictions coming to an end on Friday.
As the clock struck midnight, residents greeted their new freedoms with cheers and screams, with up to 10 vaccinated people allowed to gather at home and hairdressers, restaurants, and bars able to take in more customers.
However, indoor retail outlets, gyms, and entertainment venues will be able to reopen once 80 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
