DoH tells WHO: Prioritize poor nations

The Philippines’ Department of Health (DoH) on Tuesday appealed to the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO) to remind wealthy nations not to forget poor countries who are still lagging behind the global Covid-19 vaccine rollout. “We are calling on the United Nations and World Health Organization to make an appeal to wealthy nations who are already in talks for a booster dose or third dose,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a Palace briefing.

Duque said he believes that such actions are not “right” as many countries across the globe have not received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines. “I hope they listen to the sentiments of low- to middle-income countries who are still struggling with vaccine supply and low in vaccine coverage,” he added.

Duque said he would write a formal letter to wealthy nations in regards to his concern.

I hope they listen to the sentiments of low- to middle-income countries who are still struggling with vaccine supply and low in vaccine coverage.

According to an article from The Wall Street Journal, the United States and United Kingdom have fully vaccinated about half of their populations but across the African continent, just over 1 percent people are fully vaccinated.

In a report of Gavi who co-lead COVAX, an initiative that procures Covid-19 vaccines for 92 low-and-middle-income countries in the world, the top donors of Covid-19 vaccines are US, UK and France.

The appeal was made after the government announced that the country administered 12 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.