The number of COVID-19 vaccinations has now overtaken the number of cases reported since the start of the pandemic, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, TASS reports.
"Globally, the number of vaccinations has now overtaken the number of reported infections," he said. "In one sense, that’s good news, and a remarkable achievement in such a short timeframe. But more than three quarters of those vaccinations are in just 10 countries that account for almost 60% of global GDP."
In this regard, Ghebreyesus called upon the countries that have already vaccinated their high-risk groups, such as healthcare workers and the elderly, to "share vaccines" with other states. In his words, this move would be "the best way to protect the rest of their own population."
"The longer it takes to vaccinate those most at risk everywhere, the more opportunity we give the virus to mutate and evade vaccines," he said, adding that almost 130 countries, home to 2.5 billion people in total, are yet to administer a single dose of a vaccine.
