International

As of today, 2.5 billion people in about 130 countries do not have access to coronavirus vaccines. This is emphasized in a joint statement by WHO President Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus and UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

"Of the 128 million vaccine doses administered so far, more than three quarters of those vaccinations are in just 10 countries that account for 60% of global GDP," reads the message.

It is noted that such a “self-defeating” strategy will cost lives and livelihoods, give the virus an additional opportunity to mutate, avoid vaccination, and undermine the recovery of the world’s economy.

It is noted that almost 70% of people, who received the vaccine, live in the 50 richest countries, while in the poorest 50 countries this indicator amounts to 0.1%.

“We are all in the same boat in the race to end this pandemic. We cannot sacrifice the most at-risk people in some countries to enable the least-at-risk in other countries to be vaccinated,” the statement said.