The strategic phase of the coronavirus pandemic could end this year if countries use all available tools, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebrehesus, quoted by the DPA.
He told a meeting of the WHO Executive Board that the goal could be achieved if the problem of lower vaccination rates in poorer countries was addressed and more intensive testing of the population was carried out.
“If countries implement all strategies and tools in a comprehensive manner, this year we will be able to end the acute phase of the pandemic,” the WHO Director-General said. “We can end COVID-19 as a global health crisis and we can get there this year,” he said.
Tedros told health ministers and other officials from 34 countries that the vaccine shortage has been overcome. He noted that the logistical challenge now is to send doses to all countries and deliver them.
However, the WHO director-general called for caution.
The rapid spread of the Omicron version resulted in 100 new cases being reported from around the world every second in the last week at the Geneva-based organization. Every 12 seconds, one death was recorded.
“It is dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last option and that we are at the end of the game,” Tedros said.
He noted that in Africa, 85 percent of the population has not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the disease caused by the new coronavirus can only be defeated if 70 percent of the country’s population is vaccinated in the coming months.
Tedros also stressed the need to improve treatment options to reduce the death rate.