‘COVID can end but…’, WHO chief upholds 2 conditions to defeat the pandemic
Premium- WHO chief urged governments and manufacturers to ensure vaccine supplies to countries at risk with low coverage and resources needed to get jabs in arms
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that COVID can be definitely be defeated but all governments and manufacturers across the world must ensure 2 things. First, increasing vaccine supplies to countries at risk with low coverage. And second, ensuring the resources needed to get jabs in arms.
We are not safe anywhere until we are safe everywhere, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General further pointed out.
Noting vaccine equity to be one of his biggest resolutions for this year, WHO chief in his last address for 2021 said, “While no country is out of the woods from the pandemic, we have many new tools to prevent and treat COVID-19. The longer inequity continues, the higher the risks of this virus evolving in ways we can't prevent or predict. If we end inequity, we end the pandemic."
As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I'm confident that this will be the year we end it - but only if we do it together, he had said.
He further added that "we need all countries to work together to reach the global target of vaccinating 70% of people in all countries by the middle of 2022."
Since the beginning of 2022, Tedros has been pointing out the importance of sharing vaccines and resources. He reiterated that world leaders should come together to end vaccine equity as several nations are yet to inoculate a large chunk of their population due to vaccine shortage. Meanwhile, many rich countries have already rolled out their booster dose.
Even last week, while speaking about the importance of vaccine equity, Tedros asserted that if we fail to fairly share vaccines then the new variants of the virus will continue ravaging us.
(With inputs from agencies)
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