Half the population of poor countries has already received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, the international alliance Gavi announced Thursday, hailing the progress made in overcoming inequalities in access to vaccination.
In the 92 low-income countries that have received donor-funded vaccines, vaccination coverage has averaged 50%, said the Gavi alliance, which co-leads with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other institutions the international Covax system that aims to ensure the equitable availability in the world of vaccines and treatments against Covid-19.
The Gavi alliance and the WHO have long lamented the lack of solidarity regarding access to vaccination against Covid-19.
80% of health professionals vaccinated
Although inequalities persist, “low-income countries have made remarkable progress”, reaching a “decisive threshold in coverage” of vaccination against Covid-19, the Gavi alliance said in a press release.
Dramatic progress has been made since the start of 2022, with just 31% of people in these 92 countries receiving their first two doses. Previously, vaccination coverage in 34 of these countries was less than 10%, which is now the case in just ten countries, Gavi said.
The alliance particularly praised governments for prioritizing the vaccination of high-risk health workers, with more than 80% of health workers vaccinated in most low-income countries.
“The pandemic is not over”
Derrick Sim, interim CEO of the Covax office within Gavi, hailed “vital progress”. But “the pandemic is not over,” he warned. “Cases and deaths continue to rise and new variants pose a threat to all of us.”
Since the first COVID-19 vaccines became available, Covax has delivered more than 1.4 billion doses to low-income countries around the world.
“Vaccination inequality is the greatest moral failure of our time and people and countries are paying the price,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this year.
Source: BFM TV
