Before vaccinating children, wealthier countries should donate COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries, or the pandemic's second year may be more deadly than the first, World Health Organization officials warned during a May 14 news briefing.
To protect those most in need in all countries, wealthy countries should give doses to the international vaccine-sharing effort, Covax, once their adult population is vaccinated, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, the World Health Organization's director-general.
"In a handful of rich countries, which bought up the majority of the supply, lower-risk groups are now being vaccinated," Dr. Tedros said. "In low- and lower-middle-income countries, COVID-19 vaccine supply has not been enough to even immunize healthcare workers, and hospitals are being inundated with people that need lifesaving care urgently."
France and Sweden both donated vaccines to Covax after inoculating priority populations, The Guardian reported. Canada and the U.S. both recently authorized vaccines for adolescents, though a WHO official said Washington, D.C., is considering sharing doses.
About 44 percent of all vaccines administered have been to adults in high-income countries, accounting for 16 percent of the global population, according to The Guardian. Only 0.3 percent have been administered in the 29 lowest-income countries, accounting for 9 percent of the world’s population.
Inequity in vaccine access likely will mean the world will see more virus deaths this year than last, Dr. Tedros said. Worldwide, more than 3.3 million people have died from COVID-19 since emerging in December 2019, according to data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.