Experts call for narrowing COVID-19 'vaccine gap'

BOAO -- More efforts should be made to narrow the "vaccine gap," or the disparities in COVID-19 vaccination coverage among different countries, according to experts at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference.

Gao Fu, head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a sub-forum themed "Narrowing the Vaccine Gap" that wide disparities exist in vaccination coverage between high-income countries and countries of lower incomes.

Efforts should be made to narrow the gap and ensure people's health, Gao added.

Gordon Brown, World Health Organization (WHO) ambassador for global health financing, said about one-third of the world's population had not yet received their first vaccine shot, calling on medical workers to make more efforts to change the status quo.

The Chinese government has provided a lot of vaccines to other parts of the world, contributing greatly to helping others to improve the imbalanced situation, said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

China has provided over 2.1 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations. The country has vowed to follow through with its pledged donation of more vaccine doses to Africa and ASEAN countries as part of the effort to narrow the immunization gap.