Unfair vaccine distribution risks 'catastrophic moral failure': WHO

Geneva: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday said that the world was on the brink of a "catastrophic moral failure" on distributing coronavirus vaccines, urging countries and manufacturers to share Covid-19 doses more fairly around the globe.

Tedros denounced the "me-first" attitude of wealthy nations and also blasted Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers for chasing regulatory approval in rich countries rather than submitting their data to the WHO to green-light vaccine use globally.

"Not only does this me-first approach leave the world's poorest and most vulnerable at risk, it is also self-defeating," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the opening of the body's annual Executive Board meeting.

The WHO chief said the prospects for fairly distributing the various jabs were at serious risk just as its vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX aims to start distributing inoculations next month.

WHO chief on 'me-first approach'

Such a "me-first approach" left the world's poorest and most vulnerable at risk, he added.

"Ultimately these actions will only prolong the pandemic," Tedros said.

The WHO chief's statement comes days after he called for rich and middle-income countries to stop making bilateral deals with pharmaceutical firms because, he said, it hurt the UN-led effort to ensure poorer nations also get the jabs.

The WHO chief noted 44 bilateral deals were signed last year and at least 12 have already been signed this year.

"This could delay COVAX deliveries and create exactly the scenario COVAX was designed to avoid, with hoarding, a chaotic market, an uncoordinated response, and continued social and economic disruption," he said.

The global scramble for Covid-19 vaccine shots has intensified as more infectious virus variants circulate.

Tedros cited as an example of inequality that more than 39 million doses of vaccine have been administered in 49 higher-income countries whereas just 25 doses had been given in one poor country.