WHO Urges Rich Nations Not To Vaccinate Children
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged rich nations not to vaccinate children. Instead, the WHO says, the jabs should be donated to the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX).
“I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents. But right now, I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to COVAX,” said WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a virtual meeting in Vienna, Austria.
The COVAX is an initiative to ensure global access to coronavirus jabs amid concerns that impoverished nations such as India are left out in the worldwide race for vaccines. “In low and lower-middle-income countries, COVID-19 vaccine supply has not been enough to even immunize healthcare workers, and hospitals are being inundated with people that need lifesaving care urgently,” the WHO chief noted.
Senior WHO adviser Bruce Aylward said the global health agency was in touch with the United States about sharing vaccines with COVAX.
Friday’s WHO appeal came just days after U.S. President Joe Biden urged parents to get their children as young as 12 inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. Biden’s comments followed the decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), America’s leading health institute, to approve the jab for minors.
He made the remarks despite documented side effects among thousands of Americans. Vaccine supporters say, however, that the jabs are safe for most people. But parents have expressed concerns about vaccinating children. Experts have said children have less chance to suffer from COVID-19.
Besides the United States, Canada approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children at least 12 years old last week. The other vaccines, including Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, have only been approved for adults who are at least 18.
Nearly 1.4 billion vaccine doses have been given out in at least 210 countries, according to a tally by French news agency AFP. But 44 percent of those doses went to high-income countries that account for 16 percent of the global population. Just 0.3 percent have been given in the 29 lowest-income countries, which is home to 9 percent of the world population, official data showed.
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