The World Health Organization has called for a suspension in Covid booster shots as poorer nations have been almost left behind in getting doses, Reuters reported Thursday.
WHO's call comes as the gap between immunizations in rich and poor nations widens.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a media conference that the halt on third doses should be made until at least end of September.
This would help WHO attain its objective of inoculating at least a tenth of each country's population by next month, protecting frontline and health care personnel and the vulnerable ones.
The request for a temporary halt is the strongest yet from the United Nations body at a time when governments tackle the need for booster shots to contain the virulent Delta variant.
Ghebreyesus said the WHO cannot accept nations that have already used up most of the world's supply of Covid vaccines to use even more of it while the most vulnerable sector remain unprotected.
The WHO said high-income nations have administered about 50 doses for every 100 people in May, and that this number has since grown twofold.
Ghebreyesus also called on vaccine makers to make Covax their top priority. It is a program created in 2020 to equitably distribute vaccines to every corner of the world.
Many lower-income nations are fully dependent on Covax, but the program has only been able to deliver a small volume of the 1.8 billion doses it targets to roll out by early next year.
The WHO director-general said we need an immediate turnaround from majority of vaccines making their way to high-income nations to the majority going to low-income countries.
In reaction, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday the WHO was presenting a "false choice," The Washington Post reported.
The U.S. announced Tuesday "an important milestone" of more than 110 million vaccine shots being distributed globally, Psaki said, more than all other nations have shared.
The WHO has been pushing for more fair distribution of vaccines for months, although it lacks the authority to press countries to abide by its proposals.
Meanwhile, to prevent more Delta variant from spreading, some nations have started to administer or begun considering the need for booster shots even as researchers contend over whether extra doses are required.
