WEF 2022: Not sharing Covid vaccines widely is racism, says UN official

Just 13 per cent of people in low-income countries, mostly brown and black, are vaccinated, says Winnie Byanyima

Denying life-saving vaccines to "people of colour" amounts to racism, said UN Undersecretary-General Winnie Byanyima on Wednesday at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2022.

Some 18 months after the first Covid-19 vaccines became available, 75 per cent of people in high-income countries, mainly white, are fully vaccinated, while just 13 per cent of people in low-income countries, mostly brown and black, are vaccinated, she said.

“Racism is not only when black people or brown people cannot breathe because of police violence. Racism is when black people, brown people, people of colour take their last breath