It is possible to end the acute phase of the pandemic this year, the head of the WHO said on Monday January 24, even if the Covid-19 causes a death every 12 seconds in the world.
Read alsoCovid-19: WHO considers “plausible” an end to the pandemic in Europe with Omicron
"
We can end the acute phase of the pandemic this year - we can end Covid-19 as a global health emergency
", the highest level of alert from the World Health Organization (WHO ), said its managing director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He nevertheless warned that "
it is dangerous to assume that (the highly contagious variant) Omicron will be the last variant or to speak of endgame
", as conditions are "
ideal
" currently in the world for other variants emerge, including more transmissible and more virulent variants.
Accelerating the distribution of vaccines in poor countries
To end the acute phase of the pandemic, countries must not sit idly by, and must, among other things, fight against vaccine inequity, monitor the virus and its variants and take appropriate restriction measures, he added. he explained on the occasion of the opening of the WHO Executive Committee, which meets this week in Geneva (Switzerland). The head of the WHO has been tirelessly calling on member states for weeks to speed up the distribution of vaccines in poor countries, with the aim of reaching 70% of the population of each country by mid-2022.
Half of WHO's 194 member states have already missed the 40% vaccination coverage target by the end of 2021, according to the WHO.
On average, over the past week, Covid-19 claimed one death every 12 seconds, and 100 cases were reported every three seconds, Dr Tedros said.
The appearance of the "
worrying
" variant Omicron in November caused cases to jump worldwide, with more than 80 million cases reported since.
Read alsoCovid-19: WHO recommends lifting travel bans and vaccination passes to enter countries
"
So far, the explosion in cases has not been followed by a surge in deaths, even though these are increasing in all regions, especially in Africa, the region with the least access to vaccines
" , said the head of the WHO.
“
It is true that we will be living with Covid for the foreseeable future (…) but learning to live with Covid should not mean that we have to give it free rein.
This should not mean that we have to accept that almost 50,000 people die every week from a disease that can be prevented and treated
,” he warned.
