WHO CHIEF WARNS OF ‘TSUNAMI OF CASES’

Wed 29 December 2021:

The rapid circulation of the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19 worldwide is creating a “tsunami of cases”, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says.

Addressing reporters at a news briefing, Tedros also repeated his call for countries to share vaccines more equitably and warned that the emphasis on delivering booster jabs in richer countries could leave poorer nations short of shots.

He said hitting a 70 percent global vaccination target could help bring about an end to the acute phase of the pandemic.

He also urrged global leaders to administer COVID-19 vaccine shots to 70% of the world’s population by July 1, 2022.

“I want government, industries, and civil society to work with us on the campaign that targets 70% of vaccine coverage in every country by the start of July,” Dr. Tedros said at a WHO briefing.

The WHO official went on to say that it is now up to global leaders to put politics, populism, and personal interests aside and respond appropriately to the pandemic.

WHO: Acute phase of pandemic could end in 2022

The acute phase of the pandemic could end next year but the coronavirus will not disappear, the World Health Organization’s Mike Ryan said.

Ryan, the WHO’s top emergency expert, also said it was too early to draw conclusions on the severity of the Omicron variant until it had spread more widely to older people.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

_____________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent