WHO warns against vaccine hoarding as poor countries go without

GENEVA, DEC 9 (REUTERS) - The World Health Organization warned wealthy countries on Thursday against hoarding COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots as they try to fight off the new Omicron variant, threatening supplies to poorer countries where inoculation rates are low.

Many Western nations have been rolling out boosters, targeting the elderly and people with underlying health issues, but worries about the fastspreading Omicron have prompted some to expand their programmes.

The WHO recommended boosters instead for those with health issues, or those who have received an inactivated shot. The jury is still out on how effective current vaccines are against Omicron. They have so far proved hugely successful in slowing the spread of the coronavirus and the severity of illness, but low rates of inoculation pose the risk of more dangerous and more vaccineresistant variants emerging.

“As we head into whatever the Omicron situation is going to be, there is risk that the global supply is again going to revert to highincome countries hoarding vaccine,” the WHO’s vaccine director, Kate O’Brien, told a briefing.

Mike Ryan, WHO emergencies director, said Omicron appeared to be “fitter and faster” but it was not invincible.