Helen Clark, the former New Zealand Prime Minister, said Monday that the world needs rich countries to fulfill their promises to provide Covid-19 vaccines for poorer countries. After the Group of 20 top economies' health ministers met in Rome, Clark said that they had agreed to make sure Covid vaccines are available for all. The pledges are one thing. But we need to deliver on those promises. Clark stated that only 89 million doses had been distributed from high-income countries to low- and mid-income countries as of last week.
Clark was co-chair of an independent panel that was established by the World Health Organization in order to examine the global pandemic response and preparedness. In May, the panel released its final report. It recommended that high-income countries distribute at least 1 billion doses of Covid vaccines in 92 low- or middle-income countries by September 1, and another 1 billion doses by February 222.
In rich countries, there are excess doses
Experts, including Larry Brilliant, the famed epidemiologist, have stated that greater vaccination coverage is necessary to reduce new coronavirus variants. This will help to end the global pandemic. In a speech Sunday at the G-20 meeting of health ministers, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, stated that only 75% of the worldwide more than 5 billion Covid vaccines were distributed in 10 countries. Tedros has repeatedly called on wealthy countries to delay the release of Covid vaccine boosters in order to allow poorer nations to inoculate more people with their first doses.
