United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres "suffered a lot" to make the "difficult" decision to receive the booster dose of the covid-19 vaccine, and delayed taking it in solidarity with African countries.

UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Thursday that "[António Guterres] is fully aware of the symbolism in receiving the third dose, while the global vaccine situation is dire."

The 72-year-old UN official was being pressured by his family and doctors to get a third dose of the vaccine before the UN General Assembly in September and the climate summit in Glasgow in November, but postponed taking it, his spokesman said.

However, Guterres took the third dose against covid-19 last Friday, considering his age and responsibilities.

"I can confirm that he, in fact, suffered a lot to make this decision," he concluded.

This week, on Wednesday, the UN Secretary-General criticized the international community for pursuing the administration of a booster dose while only 0.6% of Africa's population has full access to vaccines, when much of the world multiplies that percentage by at least ten.

Guterres also expressed concern about the "isolation" of southern African countries due to the new travel restrictions imposed because of the emergence of the new variant Omicron.

Guterres' spokesman also said that the top UN leader has been traveling to various parts of the world and will continue to do so in the coming weeks.