“A month ago, I called for a global moratorium on booster doses at least until the end of September, to prioritise vaccinating the most at-risk people around the world who are yet to receive their first dose,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
Students return to school for the new semester as schools reopen in the city of Nanjing, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Pic/AFP
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for an extension of a global moratorium on Covid-19 booster doses, with an aim to enable every country to vaccinate at least 40 per cent of its population.
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“A month ago, I called for a global moratorium on booster doses at least until the end of September, to prioritise vaccinating the most at-risk people around the world who are yet to receive their first dose,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters here.
“There has been little change in the global situation since then, so today I am calling for an extension of the moratorium until at least the end of the year, to enable every country to vaccinate at least 40 per cent of its population,” he added. In early August, the WHO called for such a moratorium as countries had been deliberating whether there’s a need for a booster jab against the fast-spreading
Delta variant.
However, the latest forecast from COVAX, the WHO-led international vaccine campaign, has pointed to a 25 per cent reduction in the number of doses going through COVAX if without urgent action from G20 countries and vaccine manufacturers, according to Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to the WHO Director-General, at the briefing.
‘Home quarantine for overseas arrivals in Oz soon’
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday promised citizens stranded overseas that home quarantine on arrival in the country will be available soon. Morrison acknowledged the “very heavy burden” carried by Australians who have been stuck overseas since the start of the pandemic, reports xinhua news agency.
Japan extends state of emergency in 19 areas
The Japanese government on Thursday formally declared the extension of the Covid-19 state of emergency for 19 areas, including Tokyo, till September 30. The current state of emergency had been set to end on Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency. The state of emergency for prefectures of Miyagi and Okayama will be replaced by a quasi-state of emergency, while the remaining will remain under the strict restrictions of a state of emergency.
5,69,073
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
22,28,36,251
Total no. of cases worldwide
46,00,565
Total no. of deaths worldwide
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