Without a conscious effort from the world’s rich countries, there is a risk that the needs for vaccines in the poorest countries, at least initially, will not be met.
– It is up to us to really ensure that poor countries have access to the vaccines that are best suited for their population. Solidarity thinking has to some extent been a scarce commodity during the Covid pandemic, but it is incredibly important that we actually try to get back to it, says Anna Mia Ekstrรถm, professor of global infection epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet.
Of among other things The World Health Organization WHO launched the global Covax project earlier this year, in which most of the world’s countries work together for a fair vaccine distribution. The goal is for low-income countries to be able to vaccinate at least 20 percent of their populations by 2021.
Ann Lindstrand is responsible at the WHO for preparing the countries of the world for the Covid-19 vaccination. According to her, so far there is only funding for about a third of the two billion doses needed. The hope is now that the world’s rich countries, financial institutions and private advisers will contribute to the rest.
– This is in everyone’s interest. If not everyone is protected, we will not be able to stop this pandemic. The financing is not secured yet, but I think it will be, she says.
In addition to the actual The distribution of vaccines, there are also other important aspects to consider. Among other things, it is necessary to catch all the children who, due to the pandemic, have not received a vaccine against, for example, measles, rubella and polio, which save millions of lives every year.
“Otherwise we will have outbreaks of those diseases at the same time, which we absolutely want to avoid,” says Ann Lindstrand.
Source: ICELAND NEWS