Tedros denounces vaccine inequity as COVAX sharing scheme marks first year

FILE PHOTO: A medical worker prepares a dose of AstraZeneca's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, at the Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, April 8, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

GENEVA (Reuters) - Coronavirus vaccines remain out of reach in the poorest countries, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report on Friday, marking the first anniversary of the COVAX dose-sharing facility.

"Nearly 900 million vaccine doses have been administered globally, but over 81% have gone to high- or upper middle-income countries, while low-income countries have received just 0.3%," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said about the ACT (Access to COVID-19 Tools) Accelerator set up a year ago.