(VOVWORLD) - Global cooperation, instead of competition and confrontation, is the only way to end the COVID-19 pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ghebreyesus said that the shocking global disparity in access to vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic, adding that the world cannot defeat this pandemic through competition. He said that if one competes for resources or for geopolitical advantages, the virus gets the advantage.
High- and upper-middle income countries, with 53% of the world's population, have received 83% of the world's vaccines, while low- and lower-middle income countries, with 47% of the world's population, have received just 17%, according to WHO data.