While in many countries the restrictions to fight the Covid-19 pandemic have already been lifted and life has resumed its normal course, WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus has warned that the disease is still rubbing shoulders and that it is not yet time to let our guard down.
“Is Covid-19 over? No, it’s definitely not over. I know that’s not the message you want to hear, and it’s certainly not the message that I want to convey,” he said, speaking on Sunday at the opening of the annual session of the World Health Assembly to be held until May 28.
He noted that reported Covid-19 cases are increasing in nearly 70 countries across all regions, amid falling testing rates. « This virus has surprised us at every turn – a storm that has continued to tear communities apart, and we still cannot predict its trajectory, nor its intensity, » he warned.
The boss of the WHO returned to the question of the importance of vaccination. He recalled that almost a billion people in low-income countries are still not vaccinated, even though 60% of the world’s population already is. « It’s not over anywhere until it’s over everywhere, » he said.
Tedros lamented the hesitation that still persists in the face of vaccination, which is motivated by “misinformation”, as well as the insufficient political commitment.
Before the Ministers of Health gathered in Geneva, the director of the UN body maintained that “the pandemic will not disappear as if by magic. But we can end it. We have the knowledge. We have the tools. Science has allowed us to have the upper hand.” He called on countries to work together to achieve 70% vaccination coverage.
The World Health Assembly takes place face-to-face around the theme: « Health for peace, peace for health ».
By OMA Newsletter N° 714 of 05/24/2022
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