The head of the World Health Organization warned the world was on the brink of “catastrophic moral failure”, as poor countries fall behind richer nations in accessing the vaccines needed to protect their populations against Covid-19.

“The price of this failing will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries,” said director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “It’s not right that younger, healthier adults in rich countries are vaccinated before health workers and older people in poorer countries.”

The WHO set up the Covax facility last year, with Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide. The programme aims to distribute 2bn Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of the year for free, or at a reduced cost. But it has struggled to mobilise the necessary support from wealthy nations to subsidise the initiative.