“Governments across South Asia must immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region. Extremely low vaccination rates across South Asia have also left the region highly vulnerable, with pressing action needed at the global level to ensure more equitable access to vaccines,” a statement from the Amnesty said.

It also said that South Asia, home to a quarter of the world”s population, is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The U.S., European and other wealthy nations long ago pre-ordered nearly all the doses available and now other countries, even with the money to buy, are at the back of line waiting,” said Matthew Kavanagh, a global health policy expert at Georgetown University.