WHO, partners aim to get Africa 30% of needed doses by Feb

GENEVA  - The World Health Organization and its partners said they hope to provide Africa with about 30% of the COVID-19 vaccines the continent needs by February, badly missing the 60% vaccination coverage goal that African leaders had once hoped for this year.

At a press briefing Tuesday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the massive disparity in vaccination rates between rich and poor countries a "solvable problem” and called again for pharmaceutical companies to prioritize the U.N.-backed initiative known as COVAX, which is designed to share vaccines globally.

But drugmakers - including Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna - have shown no indications they are eager to switch their current tactics, which involve appealing to rich countries and their regulators to authorize booster shots.