WHO urges countries to share vaccines actively

Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, has called on countries to take an active position in the exchange and distribution of vaccines against coronavirus, Report informs referring to TASS.

“To get out of the acute phase, we need to develop a comprehensive approach while scaling up vaccination - all countries are now working to reduce vaccine skepticism - and build production capacity. We need to expand our manufacturing geography based on local capabilities and expertise. And third, we need to increase dose sharing. Countries need to share more vaccine doses,” he said September 10 at the presentation of the final report of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, established under the auspices of the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Kluge noted that the European Technical Advisory Group talked about reaching a threshold of 80 percent vaccination coverage of the population before the emergence of a more transmissible and dangerous variant of the virus, so it is important to understand that vaccination alone cannot lead to population immunity.

“It is very important to clarify that vaccination is not a means of achieving herd immunity. Vaccination prevents severe course of the disease and death. We see that severe morbidity and mortality in countries that are increasing vaccination coverage are significantly reduced. It is very important that the enormous pressure on healthcare systems is gradually being reduced,” he explained.