London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Watch: Why WHO Chief Called Covid Booster Shots Programme A "Scandal"

Watch: Why WHO Chief Called Covid Booster Shots Programme A "Scandal"

More and more countries have been rolling out additional doses for their already vaccinated populations, despite repeated calls from the WHO for a moratorium on boosters until the end of the year to free up jabs for poorer nations.

As Covid-19 cases balloon again in Europe, the World Health Organization called Friday for more targeted vaccination efforts to ensure the most vulnerable worldwide get the jabs.

The UN health agency said Europe, once again at the epicentre of the pandemic, registered nearly two million Covid cases last week.

That is "the most in a single week in the region since the pandemic started," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

But as countries scramble to rein in transmission by reimposing restrictions or rolling out more vaccines and boosters, WHO said it was vital to ensure the jabs were going to those who needed them most, on the continent and beyond.

"It is not just about how many people are vaccinated. It is about who is vaccinated," Tedros said.

"It makes no sense to give boosters to healthy adults, or to vaccinate children, when health workers, older people and other high-risk groups around the world are still waiting for their first dose," he said.

More and more countries have been rolling out additional doses for their already vaccinated populations, despite repeated calls from the WHO for a moratorium on boosters until the end of the year to free up jabs for poorer nations.

"Every day, there are six times more boosters administered globally than primary doses in low-income countries," Tedros said, insisting that "this is a scandal that must stop now."


More targeted efforts were also needed within the wealthy countries that have access to enough doses, but where many refuse to get the jabs, WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said.

He pointed out that in nations with broad and high vaccination coverage, increasing Covid cases will not translate into many more hospitalisations and deaths, since the jabs are very effective at protecting against severe illness.

But he warned that even in countries where overall vaccination numbers are high, health systems could quickly come under pressure if significant pockets of vulnerable populations remained unvaccinated.

"If you're in Europe right now, where we've got that intense transmission, and you're in a high risk of vulnerable group or an older person and you're not vaccinated, your best bet is to get vaccinated," he told reporters.

He pointed to a recent British study that showed a non-vaccinated person has a 32-fold greater risk of dying in this pandemic than a vaccinated person.

"That's very good odds if you want to look at that in terms of something that enhances your chance of life."

Comments

Oh ya 4 year ago
More BS to get you to take the DNA altering biological agent they call a vaccine with is really a gene therapy. It forces your own cells to make a spike protein that your body sees as a virus that then fights it. One problem is your body keeps making them and the fight continues until your body or the virus wins and it kils you. Plus all the side effects like heart attacks like all the athletes that have been affected. But don't let the truth get in your way. Go get the 86 jabs they have in store for you. If 86 dont work i am sure a few dozen more will get the job done.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
×