The World Health Organization says the COVID pandemic will “go on for a year longer than it needs to” if poorer nations don’t receive the vaccine supply required to combat the virus

The World Health Organisation has delivered a stark warning saying the Covid pandemic will stretch well into 2022 if developing countries don’t get the help that they need.

This comes as less than five percent of Africa’s population have been vaccinated, compared to 40 percent in most other continents.

Wealthy nations have recently pledged to deliver more vaccine doses to countries in need with the UK giving 10 million jabs bringing the total to 100 million.

A senior leader at the WHO says countries need to give up their places in the queue for further doses so as pharmaceutical companies can prioritise lower-income areas.

The leader says the pandemic “is going to go on for a year longer than it needs to” if greater efforts are not made.

This follows an alliance of charities known as “The People’s Vaccine” releasing new figures which show just one in seven of the doses promised by pharmaceutical companies and developed countries are arriving in poorer countries.