From Delta to Omicron: 2021 in review

ABSTRACT

World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed in January that just 25 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in one of the world’s poorest countries, warning of “a catastrophic moral failure”. An investigation by SciDev.Net in February laid bare this global vaccine gap — and hollow promises by governments to address it — as health specialists warned that the shortage of vaccines in developing countries could threaten progress against COVID-19 in the global North. Ahead of the talks, a report released by UK-based think-tank Chatham House had warned that climatic hazards such as extreme heat, droughts and storms could trigger “cascading impacts” that may be felt around the world within the next decade.