Inequitable distribution of vaccines a huge failure: WHO

Health workers from the Glasgow Royal Infirmary take part in a minute’s silence on the first anniversary of the first national COVID-19 lockdown in Glasgow on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

A top World Health Organization (WHO) official said that the "inequitable" distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 was a "catastrophic moral failure" and a "failed opportunity".

Speaking at a virtual press conference on Monday about the recent rise of cases in Europe, which was up by 12 per cent in the last week, Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, stressed that there was no "golden solution" to end the pandemic.

He said that many countries have the strategy to "get enough vaccine" and "push enough vaccine to people", assuming that the pandemic would be shaken off with vaccine rollouts, reports Xinhua news agency. "I'm sorry, it's not (the case)... There aren't enough vaccines in the world, and they're distributed terribly iniquitously. In fact, we've missed a huge opportunity to bring vaccines on board as a comprehensive measure. It's not only a catastrophic moral failure, but it's (also) an epidemiologic failure," Ryan said.

Global infections rose up in the last week. Among the most affected places was South Asia, which saw a surge of 49 per cent in the number of cases, with India taking the bulk of the rise. Another hotspot was Western Pacific.

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2,23,330
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

12,38,10,630
Total no. of cases worldwide

27,25,607
Total no. of deaths worldwide

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