The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, insisted that the coronavirus pandemic “is not over” and has remembered that vaccination is the “most effective” measure to ward off serious illness or even death.
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At a press conference, Tedros commented that, despite the fact that cases and deaths from Covid-19 continue to decline worldwide, a increase in infections in the Americas and Africanoting that South African scientists who identified Omicron late last year have now reported two more Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, responsible for the increase in cases in South Africa.
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“It is too early to know if these new subvariants may cause more severe disease than other Omicron subvariants, but early data suggest that vaccination still protects against severe disease and death“, highlighted the director general of the United Nations agency.
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Photo: Reuters
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That said, Tedros assured that vaccinate at least 70% of the population of all countriesincluding 100% of the groups most at risk, remains the best way to save lives, protect health systems and minimize long-term Covid-19 cases.
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However, he noted that a combination of a lack of political commitment, operational capacity issues, financial constraints, and doubts due to misinformation and disinformation are “limiting” the demand for coronavirus vaccines.
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“We urge all countries to address these bottlenecks to provide protection for their populations“, he said, to ask countries to continue sequencing the virus and facilitate access to treatments.
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