World Health Organization chief urges halt to booster shots for rest of year

The United States and other countries have begun or are considering plans to offer booster shots to their vulnerable people (Alvaro Barrientos/AP)

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on rich countries with large supplies of coronavirus vaccines to refrain from offering booster shots through to the end of the year.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said he was “appalled” at comments by a leading association of pharmaceutical manufacturers who said vaccine supplies were high enough to allow for both booster shots and vaccinations in countries in dire need of jabs but facing shortages.