At a virtual press conference from Geneva, WHO executive director for emergency situations, Michael Ryan, asked how many deaths the organization is predicting, replied that “only one million dead is already terrible and we should think about it before we start thinking about two million”.
But, he asked shortly after, “Are we collectively prepared to do what is necessary to avoid such a number?”
“Are we determined to take multilateral action, a global collective action to control this virus instead of letting it control our lives?”, he added.
“If we don’t, yes, we will look at that number and unfortunately far above. Unless we do everything, the numbers you speak of are not unimaginable but unfortunately, and sadly, very likely “.
It is not enough to “pray”
Michael Ryan acknowledged that the priority is the financing, production and distribution of any vaccines against Covid-19.
“If we’re seeing the loss of a million people in nine months, then we have to look at the reality of having a vaccine available in the next nine months, it is a big task for everyone involved “, he said.
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However, the effort must be more comprehensive and cooperative on the same scale as the pandemic.
“If we don’t do more, evolve in the nature, scale and intensity of our cooperation, then yes, we will see that number and unfortunately a higher one. The time to act is now“, added
“It is not just a matter of testing and following outbreaks, not just of applying medical care, not just of fulfilling social distance, not just of working on vaccines, you have to do this all at the same time,” insisted the WHO director for emergencies.
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, also warned those who put all the chips in a vaccine.
“Our message is that, while working on vaccines, we must make even greater efforts to use the tools we already have at our disposal“, he said, recalling that these were what allowed some countries to control the pandemic.