The World Health Organization chief said Tuesday the longer vaccine inequity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and changing, and the longer social and economic disruption will continue, heightening chances that more variants will emerge, Anadolu Agency reports.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said the health organization's global targets are to support every country vaccinating at least 40% of its population against COVID-19 by the end of this year and 70% of the world's population by the middle of next year.

"So far, just two countries in Africa have reached the 40% target, the lowest of any region. More than 5.7 billion doses have been administered globally, but only 2% of those have been administered in Africa," Tedros said in a WHO webinar in Geneva.

"The longer vaccine inequity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and changing, the longer the social and economic disruption will continue, and the higher the chances that more variants will emerge that render vaccines less effective."

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