WHO seeks COVID-19 vaccines for poor nations, 'not empty promises'

The World Health Organization on Wednesday said low-income countries were ready to run effective COVID-19 vaccination campaigns and it was now down to manufacturers and rich countries to deliver the pledged doses to ease global health inequalities.

About 80% of the 5.5 billion vaccines doses that have been administered globally went to high and upper-middle income countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing on Wednesday. "We have heard excuses from manufacturers and some high income countries about how low income countries cannot absorb vaccines," Tedros said, adding almost all low income countries have demonstrated an ability to run large-scale immunisation campaigns for polio, measles and other diseases.