GENEVA: The Red Cross warned Wednesday (Mar 10) of a glaring gap in the plans to roll out COVID-19 vaccines around the world, saying remote communities risked missing out.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is aiming to help vaccinate 500 million people against the disease.
The IFRC, which calls itself the world’s largest humanitarian network, is planning to throw its expertise into the distribution and acceptance of vaccines among some of the hardest-to-reach communities.
But it said that while the procurement of vaccines and delivery to airport hubs was crucial, “too little thought” had been given to the next step: How those doses would be distributed within countries, including the “last mile” in getting to those furthest away.
The Geneva-based federation said it needed 100 million Swiss francs (US$111 million) to fill the logistics gap between vaccines reaching airports in capital cities, and remote settlements.
But so far the IFRC has raised only 3 per cent of that figure.
