More than 98% of Africa’s 1.2 billion people are not vaccinated… WP points out “warning on vaccine imbalances”
Biden: Corona, there is no end without vaccination… Next week, the WTO will request an exemption from intellectual property rights.”
Criticism is coming out that developed countries, including the United States, have almost wiped out the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) vaccine to inoculate their own people, which has caused the spread of Omicron mutation. The World Health Organization (WHO) appealed several times to supply vaccines to poor countries, but advanced countries did not release the vaccine even when booster shots were being carried out. In countries in South Africa where Omicron mutations were first reported, the vaccination completion rate is less than 30%. The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 27th that “mutations haunted like ghosts at a time when the world was torn apart by vaccine inequality.” As the situation worsened, the White House promised to respond.
“This case sends a warning about how the virus could evolve and spread if there is no effort to expand vaccination in poorer countries,” the WP said. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics on the 28th, as of the 25th, the completion rate of vaccination in South Africa, where the first case of infection with the omicron mutation was reported, was 24.1%. Neighboring countries Lesotho accounted for 26.7%, Eswatini 20.5%, Botswana 20.0%, Zimbabwe 18.8%, Namibia 11.6%, Mozambique 11.0% and Malawi 3.1%. Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine development countries in the US have a completion rate of 59.1%. The UK, home to the AstraZeneca vaccine, accounts for 68.8%. Germany (68.2%) and France (69.6%) also exceeded 60%. The global vaccination completion rate is 42.7%.
According to the British Guardian on the 26th, the 20 major countries (G20) have purchased 89% of the vaccines produced so far and secured 71% of the future supply. According to WHO and World Bank data, 43% of Israelis recently completed the booster shot, but in Africa, with 1.2 billion people, more than 98% of the population has not yet received the first dose.
As concerns about the spread of Omicron mutations grew, US President Joe Biden said in a statement on the 26th that “it has become clear that the fight against the pandemic will not end without a global vaccination. Next week, at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting, we will request a meeting of each country on the immunity of vaccine intellectual property rights.” Earlier in May, President Biden proposed to the international community to increase supply by giving up intellectual property rights for vaccines, but Germany and Switzerland rejected them, saying they were “a source of innovation.” Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council, said on the 27th that “this will happen over and over again until we have enough vaccines around the world.” Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, WHO World Health Financing Ambassador did.
Earlier on the 12th, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out the problem of inequality, saying that the amount of vaccine used in booster shots worldwide is six times higher than the primary dose in poor countries. He criticized it as “a scandal that needs to be stopped immediately.”
By Lee Eun-taek, staff reporter nabi@donga.com
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