The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged wealthy countries to stop inoculating children and adolescents against COVID-19 and instead donate vaccines to poorer nations.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticised the move by some rich countries to vaccinate lower risk groups, calling it a “moral catastrophe.”
Dr Tedros highlighted that vaccine supply in lower- and lower-middle-income countries has not been enough to vaccinate even health care workers.
“In January, I spoke about the potential unfolding of a moral catastrophe. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing this play out,” the WHO chief told a press briefing.
“In a handful of rich countries, which bought up the majority of the vaccine supply, lower-risk groups are now being vaccinated,” he added, in a criticism apparently directed towards the United States which is now planning to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday recommended expanded usage of Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds after the Food and Drug Administration authorised its emergency use for that age group.
CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a statement that though most children with Covid-19 have mild or no symptoms, some children can get severely ill and require hospitalisation.
“This official CDC action opens vaccination to approximately 17 million adolescents in the United States and strengthens our nation’s efforts to protect even more people from the effects of Covid-19,” the statement read.
Surjitt Sahani
