GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) has claimed that the world’s richest countries have bought 53 percent of the coronavirus vaccine.
According to the WHO, one in ten people in 68 countries will receive the vaccine. Officials said that 53 percent of the vaccine has been purchased for 14 percent of the population. After the United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia have approved the Pfizer vaccine. Vaccination for citizens in these countries is likely to begin soon.
The People’s Vaccine Alliance says nearly 70 lower-income countries will only be able to vaccinate one in 10 people. The People’s Vaccine Alliance has been formed in partnership with Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Global Justice Now to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines.
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Under the agreement, 700 million doses of the vaccine will be distributed in 92 developing countries. The People’s Vaccine Alliance has urged pharmaceutical companies to share their technology to make more doses available.
According to an analysis, rich countries have bought enough doses of vaccines to inject three times their population. The People’s Vaccine Alliance claims that Canada has ordered so many vaccines that every Canadian citizen can use them five times.
Oxfam officials said that unless dramatic changes are made, billions of people around the world will be deprived of the coronavirus vaccine for years. Vaccine campaigners said that vaccines cannot be made for the whole world by a single company.