World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the world that fresh waves of COVID-19 cases show that the pandemic is nowhere near over. ‘Iam concerned that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise – putting further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers – and deaths are unacceptably high.’
He urged governments to regularly review and adjust their COVID-19 response plans based on the current epidemiology and also the potential for new variants to appear. The Emergency Committee on COVID-19 met last week and concluded that the virus remains a public health emergency of international concern. “I am concerned that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise – putting further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers – and deaths are unacceptably high,” said Dr Tedros.Â
Dr Tedros advised planning and tackling of the pandemic, he said, Planning and tackling COVID19 should also go hand-in-hand with vaccinating for killer diseases like measles, pneumonia & diarrhoea. It`s not a question of either/or, it`s possible to do both. And new vaccines, including HPV and malaria, should continue to be introduced.’ He underscored the importance of the vaccination. “Vaccines have saved millions of lives and it`s important for governments to focus on boosting those most at-risk communities, finding the unvaccinated so as to build up the wall of immunity toward the 70 per cent vaccination target,” said the WHO chief.