WHO says it urgently needs $7.7 billion to fight delta strain

The World Health Organization is calling for $7.7 billion that officials say is urgently needed to help low-income countries survive the delta Covid variant by providing vaccines, oxygen, and medical care, Report informs, citing foreign media.

The funding will go toward WHO's Access to Covid-19 Tools, or ACT, Accelerator program, which delivers critical medical supplies across the globe to combat the coronavirus.

In a statement, the WHO said the Delta variant's transmissibility ramps up vaccination urgency and that rising infection rates are overwhelming health systems. The agency added that low testing levels, especially in low- and middle-income countries, leave the world blind to how the virus is evolving, leaving it vulnerable to new variants.

The group noted that cases in the first five months of 2021 had already exceeded infections for all of 2020 and that the world is still in the acute phase of the pandemic. Since the pandemic began, 207,604,434 cases have been reported, along with 4,367,603 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard.

The $7.7 billion appeal—needed over the next four months—is part of the ACT Accelerator's 2021 budget and would go toward increased testing and surveillance, oxygen supplies, and personal protective equipment. The funding would also support other tools to battle the pandemic, such as diagnostics and treatments, and include research and development to ensure they remain effective.

Also, the WHO said an additional $3.8 billion is needed to reserve 760 million vaccine doses in the last quarter of the year, ensuring that deliveries will continue into 2022.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ph.D., the WHO's director-general, said in the statement, "If these funds aren't made available now to stop the transmission of Delta in the most vulnerable countries, we will undoubtedly all pay the consequences later in the year."