WHO denounced that 10 countries concentrate 95% of …

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that 95% of coronavirus vaccines are concentrated in ten countries, so the organization’s European region director Hans Kluge called for more solidarity: “All countries capable of contributing, giving and supporting equitable access and deployment of vaccines are doing so.”

WHO Emergency Director Michael Ryan considered it a success that in just over a month some 28 million doses had been applied, but regretted that this had happened in 46 countries, while that ten concentrated 95% of the requests.

According to the data analysis platform Our World in Data, based on figures from the University of Oxford, these ten countries are: United States, China, United Kingdom, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Russia, Germany, Spain and Canada.

During a press conference, Kluge stressed that “enormous” efforts are being made by the organization and its partners to ensure that each country can obtain the drugs. The WHO announced last week that it would start distributing the first doses at the end of January through the Covax alliance, an alternative system to help 172 countries fairly regardless of their economic capacity.

The system was born after the frustrated demand before the World Trade Organization (WTO), led by South Africa and India, with the support of 99 other countries, to release the commercial right to patent vaccines, a extent to which the economic powers resisted. they have the power to produce the vaccine.

A 2021 with Covid-19, but “more predictable”

Kluge tried to remain optimistic by saying that this 2021 “will be another year of coronavirus, but more predictable” and “easier to control”, he also expressed his concern about the new variants detected especially in the United Kingdom and in Africa of the South, which spread between 40 and 70% faster.

“The situation is alarming,” Kluge confirmed. These new variants have already spread to 50 countries and 20 territories, respectively. In fact, in the Europe region, 25 countries, including Russia, have already confirmed the detection of cases linked to the new variant VOC 202012/01.

“With higher transmissibility and a similar severity of the disease, the variant raises concerns: without better control to stop the spread, there will be a greater impact on health centers, which are almost overwhelmed and under pressure,” said explained the regional director.