Germany and France will provide boosting doses of coronavirus vaccines from September, acting in defiance of calls from the World Health Organization (WHO) to suspend these programs until more people in the world are vaccinated.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said France is working to provide a third dose of the vaccine to the elderly and those most vulnerable to COVID-19, which is caused by the virus.
“The third dose seems to be necessary, not for everyone right away, but for those who are more vulnerable and olderr “, Macron said through an Instagram post.
Germany also aims to provide boosting doses for older people and those living in care homes from September, the country’s health ministry has said.
The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on Tuesday not to give boosting doses until at least September, saying it was unacceptable for rich countries to have more doses of vaccines.
““High-income countries have given 100 doses of vaccine per 100 inhabitants.” said Tedros.
“At the same time, low-income states have given 1.5 doses per 100 people because they lack them. We need to change this urgently, so that most vaccines are allocated to lower-income countries, rather than to richer ones.t ”.
Germany has denied the allegations, saying it would donate about 30 million doses of vaccine to poor countries.
The Macron government, meanwhile, is trying to increase vaccination rates as France faces its fourth wave of pandemics, as well as street protests against government policies against the coronavirus crisis.
So far, 49 percent of French and 53 percent of Germans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19./REL