WHO Africa Director: Booster Shots Make A Mockery Of Vaccine Equity. A Kenyan man receives an AstraZeneca vaccine as his son watches at the Makongeni Estate in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
The World Health Organization has dismissed the idea that boosters are needed at this time and called for a suspension on third doses until the end of September to free up vaccine supplies for low-income nations.
The rollout of covid-19 booster shots by some wealthy nations makes a “mockery of vaccine equity” and threatens vaccination efforts in the world’s poorest regions, according to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Director for Africa.
Wealthy countries from Israel to the U.S. have either started giving booster shots or plan to as the fast-spreading delta variant threatens efforts to end the pandemic and reopening of economies.
African countries continue to lag far behind others in vaccinations, with only 2 percent of the continent’s 1.3 billion people fully vaccinated against covid-19.
Although vaccine shipments have increased in recent weeks, African nations are still not getting enough to meet their needs, Moeti said.
“High-income countries have already, on average, administered more than 103 covid-19 vaccine doses per 100 people, while in Africa that number is six,” said Dr. Moeti during a weekly virtual briefing. “Moves by some countries globally to introduce booster shots threaten the promise of a brighter tomorrow for Africa,” she added.
Dr. Moeti urged wealthy nations to “rethink the idea of boosters” because more dangerous variants could come up as the virus spreads to unvaccinated populations.
“Failure to vaccinate the most at-risk groups in all countries will result in needless deaths,“ she said. “It cannot be repeated enough.”
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Some wealthy nations such as the U.S. plan to start giving booster shots for all eligible Americans as soon as Sept. 20.
The U.S. will give 100 million booster shots in the coming months and donate more than 600 million doses abroad, White House covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said.
The U.S. is not the only wealthy country giving third booster shots. Israel has already given more than 1 million people a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine, starting with those over 60 years old.
France and Germany also said they plan to offer shots to vulnerable people.
