Help is needed urgently to distribute vaccines worldwide amid dramatic shortages because of COVID-19 restrictions, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday, UN News reported. It has warned that youngsters’ lives “are at stake” owing to the dramatic decline in commercial flights and limited availability of charters.

"Children’s lives are at stake.” UNICEF is calling for support to unblock a massive backlog in vaccine shipments due to unprecedented logistical constraints related to COVID19 lockdowns in some countries,” said UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado.

“Governments, the private sector, the airline industry, and others have been approached to free up freight space at an affordable cost, “and to work with us to find ways around the transport disruptions we face,” she added.