The head of emergencies at the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said the worst of the coronavirus pandemic could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly, reported The Hindu.
Speaking during a panel discussion on vaccine equity, Dr. Michael Ryan said the virus cannot be wiped off completely because such pandemic viruses end up becoming part of the ecosystem.
“We have a chance to end the public health emergency this year if we do the things that we’ve been talking about,” Dr. Ryan said.
The WHO continues to slam the inequality in the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to rich and poor countries. Less than 10% of the people in lower-income countries have got even one COVID-19 vaccine dose.
Dr. Ryan said if vaccines and other tools aren’t shared fairly, the tragedy of the virus, which has so far killed more than 5.5 million people worldwide, would continue.
In related news, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Tuesday that the Omicron variant is causing hospitalizations and deaths the world over, and the narrative that it is a mild disease is misleading.
“Make no mistake, Omicron is causing hospitalizations and deaths, and even the less severe cases are inundating health facilities,” the WHO chief said late on Tuesday.
He said Omicron may be less severe than other coronavirus variants but the narrative that it is a mild disease is misleading, hurts the overall response, and costs more lives. He added that coronavirus is circulating far too intensely with many still vulnerable.
Tedros said that sharing and using health tools effectively and implementing public health and social measures can help in significantly reducing the impact of the current wave.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the global coronavirus caseload has hit 333.5 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.55 million and vaccinations to over 9.68 billion.
