The head of WHO estimated the number of doses of vaccines needed to vaccinate 70% of the population

The World HEALTH Organization (WHO) is launching a new strategy to vaccinate most of the world's population against covid-19 and combat inequality in the distribution of vaccines, the HEAD of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said during a press conference.

The strategy is calculated until mid-2022. According to the plan, by the end of 2021, 40% of the world's population should be vaccinated, by the end of the program - 70%. Achieving the ultimate goal will require 11 billion doses of vaccines, Ghebreyesus said.

In his opinion, given the current pace of production of drugs that give immunity against coronavirus, this goal is quite achievable. The head of WHO noted that by the end of September, just over 6 billion doses had been administered worldwide. Currently, the global production of COVID-19 vaccines is almost 1.5 billion doses per month, enough to vaccinate 70% of the population, provided that the drugs are distributed fairly.

“Science has played its part, providing us with powerful tools to save lives faster than during any other outbreak [disease] in history,” said the head of WHO. “But the concentration of these funds in the hands of a few countries and companies has led to a global catastrophe, with the rich [countries] protected and the poor left vulnerable to the deadly virus. We can still meet our targets for this year and next, but that will require a level of political action and cooperation beyond what we see today.”