The world has reached a situation of "vaccine apartheid" and was no longer just at risk of that status, World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
"The big problem is a lack of sharing. So the solution is more sharing," he told a virtual Paris Peace Forum event.
Earlier, he called on Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers to make shots available to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility sooner than planned due to a supply shortfall left by Indian export disruptions.
The COVAX facility, backed by the WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), aims to secure two billion vaccine doses for lower-income countries by the end of 2021.
Some 162.75 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019, while economies have taken a hit and restrictions have turned daily life upside down.
Europe and the United States have embarked on mass vaccinations programmes in the past months, raising hopes of a gradual reopening, although the virus is still in circulation in many regions, with variants causing concern.
