The head of the World Health Organization has warned that poor countries should not be treated with contempt in the rush for COVID-19 vaccines by the rich nations.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said successful vaccines must be distributed equitably and that $4.3bn (£3.2bn) was needed to help fund a sharing scheme.
He said the question was “not whether the world can afford to share… it’s whether it can afford not to“.
Four vaccines have now reported good results from late-stage trials.
The latest to prove highly effective at stopping people developing Covid-19 symptoms, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is much cheaper to produce than two others recently announced, and could have a bigger impact worldwide.
The Oxford jab, which researchers say could offer up to 90% protection, is also easier to store and transport than both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and would be supplied at cost price to developing countries.
Another Covid vaccine developed in Russia, Sputnik V, has reported good preliminary data from phase three trials.
Source: Gossips24.com
