WHO says almost 1 billion vaccine doses secured for low- and middle-income countries

FILE PHOTO: A woman receives the first of two Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine jabs, at Guy's Hospital, at the start of the largest ever immunisation programme in the British history, in London, Britain December 8, 2020. Victoria Jones/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

The World Health Organization said on Friday nearly 1 billion doses of leading vaccine candidates had been secured as part of the COVAX programme to provide vaccines for low- and middle-income countries.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, told a Geneva news conference on Friday that 189 countries were participating in the programme.

(Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Catherine Evans)