Coronavirus: WHO pushes for ‘80 per cent vaccinated’ to fight outbreaks
- High levels of vaccination coverage are way out of pandemic, WHO official says
- G7 nations called upon boost access to doses in developing world
A top World Health Organization official estimated that Covid-19 vaccination coverage of at least 80 per cent was needed to significantly lower the chance that an imported coronavirus case could generate new cases or spawn a wider outbreak.
Dr Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergencies chief, said that ultimately, “high levels of vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic”.
Many rich countries have been moving to vaccinate teenagers and children – who have lower risk of more dangerous cases of Covid-19 than the elderly or people with comorbidities – even as those same countries face pressure to share vaccines with poorer ones that lack them.
Britain, which has vastly reduced case counts thanks to an aggressive vaccination campaign, has seen a recent uptick in cases attributed largely to the so-called delta variant that originally appeared in India – a former British colony.
Ryan acknowledged that data wasn’t fully clear about the what percentage of vaccination coverage was necessary to fully have an impact on transmission.