WHO calls out Canada over COVID-19 vaccine inequity

CBC News: The National in Canada shows that the World Health Organization has called out richer countries, including Canada, for not helping international efforts toward COVID-19 vaccine equity, despite vaccinating their populations at a much faster rate than poorer countries.

Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers.

As of 30 May 2021, 1.9 billion doses of COVID‑19 vaccine have been administered worldwide based on official reports from national health agencies. AstraZeneca anticipates producing 3 billion doses in 2021, Pfizer-BioNTech 1.3 billion doses, and Sputnik V, Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Johnson & Johnson 1 billion doses each. Moderna targets producing 600 million doses and Convidecia 500 million doses in 2021. By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high-income countries comprising 14% of the world's population.