One of the main figures behind the Covax vaccine initiative has questioned why rich countries are ramping up their booster programmes in response to the Omicron variant, insisting the priority should be inoculating the huge number of people worldwide who are still waiting for a first shot.
“The most important thing is that we still need to vaccinate . . . high-risk people everywhere, and that priority needs to be a global priority, not just a country priority,” said Seth Berkley, chief executive of the Gavi vaccine alliance that helped create the UN-backed Covax scheme.
In South Africa, where a surge in coronavirus cases has been linked to the Omicron strain, less than a third of people have had at least one shot. According to the World Health Organization, only 5 per cent of people in African Union member states were double-vaccinated by mid-November.