Even if it feels like this for many: The corona pandemic is not over yet. Poor countries in particular suffer from high numbers of infections and a lack of vaccines. That, in turn, could have consequences for all of us.
In many western countries, the corona pandemic is felt to be history. The population is almost completely vaccinated, restrictions are being relaxed and life is gradually returning to its normal course. But appearances are deceptive. The pandemic is far from over – on the contrary: it will even “last a year longer than necessary,” warns the one, according to one. Dr. Bruce Aylward, epidemiologist and chief advisor at the WHO, said that the corona crisis “could easily drag on well into 2022” because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need.
While booster shots are being distributed in this country, many people have not yet seen a single syringe. The discrepancy is huge: Less than five percent of the African population is vaccinated, compared to 40 percent on most other continents. At the same time, rich countries are lagging behind on their commitments. Great Britain, for example, has pledged 100 million vaccine doses to needy nations – the island nation has delivered just ten million.
Poorer countries fall by the wayside
In order to avoid such gaps, the was launched at the beginning of the pandemic. The original idea was that all countries – including wealthy – get vaccines from a common pool. But most of the G7 countries quickly concluded their own deals with pharmaceutical companies in order to get to the cans more quickly.
“”, an alliance of charities, specifically criticized Canada and the UK for procuring vaccines through the Covax initiative in addition to their national agreements. According to official statistics, the UK received 539,370 cans of Pfizer from the pool earlier in the year, while Canada got just under a million Astrazeneca cans. Oxfam Global Health Advisor Rohit Malpani admitted that while Canada and the UK were eligible to receive vaccines through this route after paying into the Covax program, he called the route “morally unacceptable” as both states have already received millions of doses through bilateral agreements of their own. “You shouldn’t have got those cans from Covax,” he said. “It is nothing more than ‘taking yourself twice’ and means that poorer countries that are already at the end of the queue will have to wait longer.”
The UK government indicated that it was one of the first countries to “kick off” Covax in 2020 with a £ 548 million donation. Canada’s government, on the other hand, stressed that it has since stopped using Covax vaccines. The Covax initiative originally aimed to deliver two billion vaccine doses by the end of this year – but only 371 million doses have been distributed so far.
WHO chief adviser: “really need to speed it up”
Now the WHO has again appealed to the richer countries to give up their places in the vaccine queue so that pharmaceutical companies can prioritize the countries with the lowest incomes instead. The WHO aims for 40 percent of people in all countries to be vaccinated by the end of the year. To do this, however, wealthy countries have to keep their donation pledges. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on the largest economies, the G20, to make new efforts for a fairer distribution of vaccines at their summit in Rome from October 30th.
The WHO had called for no booster vaccinations to be given, except for particularly vulnerable people, while millions of people in poorer countries are waiting for their first vaccination. However, this request was ignored: “Countries with high and middle incomes have now given almost half as many booster vaccinations as were distributed in the total in the countries with low income,” said Tedros. In contrast, Africa accounts for only 2.6 percent of the doses administered worldwide.
“I can tell you that we are not on the right track,” warned WHO chief adviser Aylward. “We really need to speed it up, or you know what? This pandemic is going to last a year longer than it should.”
Sources:, “”, “”, with DPA
