Vaccine roll-out for world’s poor must do better

WHILE the UK Government has now embarked on a programme of starting to offer 8.5 million who are eligible a third booster vaccine, the number of people in the world’s poorest countries who have been fully vaccinated is just 1.3 per cent.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to supply 100 million surplus vaccines within the next year to poor countries but, as with so many of his promises, he has delivered fewer than 10 per cent of this figure. This comes in the wake of his government’s cut in our overseas aid programme to the same countries.

I’m 60 next month and was vaccinated in March but I won’t be having another until the world’s poorest people, with the world’s poorest medical facilities, have been given a better deal.

Mike Shearing