“Clearly global solidarity is still a work in progress. It was our ambition, it was our hope. It has not delivered to the extent that we had hoped, it’s still a work in progress. We are still doing the advocacy for donations from countries that have secured more vaccines to cover the entire population," Moeti said at a briefing.

Vaccine supplies to Africa may increase later as pharmaceutical companies work to expand their production capacity, the official added.

The WHO and partners have put together a global facility — COVAX — whose aim is to ensure equitable access to safe and efficient vaccines, both for countries which can afford it and those in need of assistance. The facility includes over 90 low- and middle- income countries which will be financially aided to afford vaccines.

COVAX was designed to distribute vaccines among participating countries at the same rate proportional to their total population size. No country will receive more doses than enough to vaccinate 20 percent of the population until the same amount has been made available to all countries in the financing group. There is also a small emergency stockpile, amounting to about 5 percent of all available doses, that the facility will keep for acute outbreaks and humanitarian organizations.