Ten countries account for 95% of the 23.5 million doses of vaccine introduced in the world. ”I can assure you that the WHO and its partners work hard to make sure that each country obtains vaccines. For the purpose, each country that can contribute should allocate the necessary resources so as to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines. Simply, we cannot leave particular countries or communities outside our attention,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge stated in a news conference, being quoted by IPN.
According to the WHO official, 31 countries in the WHO European Region have launched vaccination campaigns by now. At the same time, with the limited availability of vaccines and the increasing pressure on health systems, it is vital to ensure the healthcare workers and the population with an increased risk of infection get the vaccine the first.
Hans Kluge noted that in 2020, the WHO European Region recorded over 26 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 580,000 cases of deaths caused by the virus. During the last seven days, 1.8 million infections were reported in the WHO European Region alone. Over 280 million people in this region were in complete national quarantine at the start of 2021. A number of countries last week announced partial quarantine. The region continues to experience very high infection rates and attention should be thus drawn to the anti-COVID-19 and quarantine measures.
Answering a journalist‘s question about the vaccination of the population of Russia with Sputnik-V that wasn’t certified by the WHO, Oleg Beneș, senior specialist of the vaccination department at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, stated that each country can decide what vaccine to use, comparing the risks and advantages. The WHO is taking part in the examination of the applications filed by countries, but this does not mean that all the countries must present their preparations for certification to the WHO. The WHO can pronounce on a vaccine when a relevant application is submitted and detailed information about the vaccine is provided.
