According to WHO experts, 30 to 40 nations are unable to offer second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, particularly those anticipating vaccines from AstraZeneca.
On Friday, Xinhua news agency quoted Bruce Aylward, Senior Advisor to the WHO Director-General on Organizational Change, as stating, “We have a huge number of nations that have had to stop the deployment of their second doses of vaccine.” Many nations who were anticipating AstraZeneca vaccines from the Serum Institute of India, which were to be provided through the WHO-led COVAX programme, saw their supplies cut as the manufacturer prioritised India’s outbreak in April 2021. According to Aylward, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as India’s neighbours Nepal and Sri Lanka, are all affected.
According to the WHO, a total of 2,378,482,776 vaccine doses had been provided around the world as of June 18.
