Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Chief of the World Health Organization has slammed the richer countries for hoarding the vaccine.

WHO chief said during a press conference, "I need to be blunt. The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure. The price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries."

He also said that even if companies and countries speak about equal access to vaccines, the behavior seems different.

He said the world's most vulnerable group is at the risk due to the vaccine nationalism and the "me first" tendency that comes with it. He also recalls similar past mistakes made during HIV and H1N1 pandemics.

He also pointed out some countries going behind COVAX to secure vaccines for themselves, and driving up prices. COVAX is a WHO initiative that hopes to ensure the distribution of at least 2 billion vaccines evenly this year. 

More than 2 million people in the world have died so far due to coronavirus disease.