The World Health Organization on October 7, 2021, launched the “Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by mid-2022″. Both the UN Secretary-General and WHO Director-General have called on countries and manufacturers to make good on their commitments without further delays.
According to the health organization, this strategy was launched in a bid to bring an end to the inequality faced during this pandemic. The inequality refers to the unequal distribution of vaccines amongst people in poorer countries and those in richer countries.
The WHO describes this as bringing “an end to what has become a two-track pandemic: people in poorer countries continue to be at risk while those in richer countries with high vaccination rates enjoy much greater protection”.
What this means
Earlier, the WHO had set a target for 10% of every country’s population to have been vaccinated by the end of September, however, at that date, 56 countries were yet to meet that target hence the need for this new strategy to further ensure countries are able to reasonably meet the targets.
Majority of the countries that are yet to vaccinate 10% of their population are in Africa and the Middle East.
The new strategy outlines a plan for achieving WHO’s targets to vaccinate 40% of the population of every country by the end of this year and 70% by mid-2022.
What they are saying
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Science has played its part by delivering powerful, life-saving tools faster than for any outbreak in history.”
“But the concentration of those tools in the hands of a few countries and companies has led to a global catastrophe, with the rich protected while the poor remain exposed to a deadly virus. We can still achieve the targets for this year and next, but it will take a level of political commitment, action and cooperation, beyond what we have seen to date.”
This strategy is getting jumpstarted with the United Nations on board as well.
According to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “This is a costed, coordinated and credible path out of the COVID-19 pandemic for everyone, everywhere”.
“Without a coordinated, equitable approach, a reduction of cases in any one country will not be sustained over time. For everyone’s sake, we must urgently bring all countries to a high level of vaccination coverage”, he added.
According to the WHO, in order to achieve the global vaccination targets, a three-step approach to vaccination should be embraced including vaccinations of all older adults, health workers, and high-risk groups of all ages first.
The strategies involved in achieving these targets were outlined in the News release published on the official WHO website