A senior World Health Organization (WHO) official reiterated the organization’s criticism against wealthy nations planning for COVID-19 booster shots, arguing that those nations should be working on producing and donating vaccine doses to poorer countries.
“We’re planning to hand out extra life jackets to people who already have life jackets, while we’re leaving other people to drown without a single lifejacket,” said Mike Ryan, the director of the WHO’s health emergency program, on Wednesday as the Biden administration announced that it would work to provide booster shots by Sept. 20.