While vaccines are still in short supply in many countries in the Global South, the third injection is already available elsewhere. The WHO calls for justice.
Geneva – The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a temporary stop to booster vaccinations. “We cannot accept that countries that have already used the majority of the vaccine available worldwide are now using more,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday, according to dpa. Instead, it is now important to concentrate on vaccination progress in poorer countries.
A look at the vaccination statistics of the individual countries makes it clear: almost no country has come close to the home stretch. 85 percent of the population should be vaccinated against the coronavirus to prevent further waves of infection, this is the goal of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for Germany. Here the delta variant dominates the infection process; The situation is similar in many other countries. According to the data from Our World in Data, only 15 out of 188 countries currently have a rate of over 60 percent.
Distribution of vaccines: WHO calls for a moratorium on booster vaccinations
In many less affluent countries in particular, the value is significantly lower – often because not that much vaccine is available. According to the World Bank, an average of 101 vaccine doses per 100 people were administered in rich countries. In the 29 poorest countries in the world, this value falls to less than two vaccine doses, reports the dpa.
However, the first countries are already looking at booster vaccinations, also known as booster vaccinations. In Germany, for example, older people and people with previous illnesses as well as those in need of care should be able to be vaccinated again with Biontech / Pfizer or Moderna from September. The federal and state health ministers agreed on this at the beginning of August. Booster vaccinations are already being carried out in Israel, and according to the AP news agency, Russia is also already offering refreshments.
Corona: Germany wants to offer booster vaccinations from September – Too early, says the WHO
The WHO, however, asks to stop booster vaccinations until at least the end of September. “We need an urgent turnaround from the majority of vaccines going to rich countries,” said Tedros. By then, at least ten percent of the population in each country should be vaccinated, demands the Geneva-based WHO. 86 countries currently have a vaccination rate below this value.
The Federal Ministry of Health reacted cautiously to the initiative. A spokeswoman referred to the expected benefits of third vaccinations (in the case of Johnson & Johnson: second vaccinations). In addition, Germany wants “by the end of the year to [donate] at least 30 million vaccine doses to countries where it has so far hardly been possible to vaccinate,” it said. Joe Biden’s US government was also reserved. You can do both, export vaccine and protect your own citizens, said Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman. (mp / dpa)
