‘Vaccination below 2pc’

MANY countries have a Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination coverage below two per cent which is unacceptable, according to World Health Organisation director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In Papua New Guinea, the National Control Centre reported that as of last Sunday, 134,444 people had been vaccinated.
Dr Ghebreyesus said in a statement that the low vaccination rate was the reason why the WHO had called for a global moratorium on booster doses until the end of this month.
“Our 10 per cent target is still achievable, but only if all member states work together in solidarity,” he said.
“The secretariat is working directly with producers, countries with high vaccination levels and producing countries to solve this problem.”
Dr Ghebreyesus said the WHO global targets were to support every country to vaccinate 10 per cent of its population by the end of this month, 40 per cent by the end of this year, and 70 per cent of the world’s population by the middle of next year.
“We are making progress,” he said.
“Globally, 140 countries have vaccinated 10 per cent of their populations.
“Between now and the end of the year, we expect the volume of vaccines to increase substantially.
“That makes it crucial that all countries step up their preparations to roll out vaccines.
“Just as the pandemic has highlighted the need for improved mechanisms to share vaccines, it has also shown that the world needs better systems for collecting, analysing and sharing information on pandemic.”