Talking about the vaccination gap at the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Agenda conference, World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergencies Director Mike Ryan said that over half of the world's population has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
But he added that only 7% of the population has been fully vaccinated in Africa.
"The problem is we are leaving huge swathes of the world behind...But vaccines are absolutely central. There is no way out of the pandemic right now without vaccines as the central strategic pillar."
The discovery of the Omicron variant in southern Africa has heightened claims that low inoculation rates can encourage viral mutations, which can then spread to countries where rates are much higher.
