WHO chief urges halt to booster shots for rest of the year

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization is calling on rich countries with large supplies of coronavirus vaccines to refrain from offering booster shots through the end of the year, expanding a call that has largely fallen on deaf ears. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said Wednesday that he was “appalled” at comments by pharmaceutical manufacturers who said vaccine supplies are high enough to allow for both booster shots and vaccinations in countries in dire need of jabs but facing shortages. The WHO chief says “I will not stay silent when companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world’s poor should be satisfied with leftovers.” The U.S. and other nations have already begun some vaccine booster shots for vulnerable people.