Covid: WHO urges rich countries to halt booster shots until 2022

The World Health Organization has urged wealthy countries to forgo Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for the rest of the year to ensure that poorer countries have more access to the vaccine.

Addressing a media briefing, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday called for an "extension of the moratorium" on booster doses for at least until the end of the year so that every country vaccinates at least 40 per cent of its population.

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Tedros had previously called for a “moratorium” on booster shots through the end of September. But rich countries – including Israel, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and the United States – have begun or are considering plans to offer third shots of vaccines to their vulnerable people.