Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, on Sept. 7 ripped into the practice of stockpiling and hoarding COVID-19 vaccines by wealthier nations, while most of the world is essentially denied access to them. “This is not just unfair, it’s not just immoral,” the epidemiologist said during a Q&A session, “it’s prolonging the pandemic, and it is resulting in people dying.”
Earlier in the discussion, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director for the WHO Health Emergencies Program, declared: “Some countries have lots of available [vaccines], but they’re not able to get people to take the vaccine,” he said. “And there are other countries—many in the south—who are desperate to get a vaccine and can’t get access to it.”
