The World Health Organization (WHO) does not approve that vaccination against COVID-19 is mandatory in any country, although it does defend the importance of immunization, an agency spokeswoman clarified today given the fact that several countries are considering imposing its mandatory.
“In general, the WHO opposes any compulsory vaccination”, summed up at a press conference the spokeswoman for the organization Fadela Chaib.
However, “the general population must be explained how vaccines work, and how important they are,” said the official source, who clarified that these vaccines are only “one of the various tools we have in our hands” to combat the pandemic. by COVID-19
WHO experts have reiterated throughout this year that vaccines are not enough in the fight against the coronavirus and must be combined with health measures that were already generalized last year to stop infections.
Among them would be from the use of a mask to frequent hand washing, the ventilation of homes, physical distance or avoiding crowded places.
The use of coercive measures to increase the number of vaccinated has been considered in places such as Germany, the United Kingdom or the United States, although it has also met with opposition from sectors of the population in those countries.
So far, some 4.4 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered worldwide .
In countries such as Spain, France, Canada, the United Kingdom or Germany, the percentage of people already fully vaccinated is around 60% (it drops to 50% in the United States), while in many low-income nations it barely reaches 1%. EFE