As many vaccinations against COVID-19 has started in many countries around the world with several vaccines being rolled out, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) questioned the uneven distribution of vaccines, warning that the world is on the  “brink of a catastrophic moral failure,” reports news agency ANI. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure, and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries.” Tedros was speaking during the virtual executive board meeting of the WHO.

The promise of equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is at serious risk, Tedros warned, further saying, “More than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries. Just 25 doses have been given in one lowest-income country. Not 25 million; not 25 thousand; just 25.”

The warning by the WHO chief as a global initiative, COVAX was launched nine months ago to ensure the fair and equitable access of COVID-19 vaccines in each country. 

Starting from the United Kingdom, many countries across the globe have rolled out the vaccination programme, the latest nation being India that started the world’s largest immunisation drive against COVID-19 on Saturday. 

Talking about the vaccine distribution, Tedros said that these actions will not help in containing the spread of coronavirus but will only “prolonge the pandemic.”

“Vaccine equity is not just a moral imperative, it is a strategic and economic imperative,” the WHO chief added.