WHO Chief: The COVID pandemic is certainly not over

Deaths are on the rise in Africa, the continent with the lowest vaccination rates, said Adhan Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization.

The COVID-19 pandemic is “certainly not over”, warned the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, despite the drop in reported cases.

The director general of the WHO told officials gathered at the opening of the annual meeting of the WHO in Geneva that “the refusal of testing and sequencing means that we are blinded to the evolution of the virus,” Anatolia reported.

He noted that nearly a billion people in lower-income countries have not yet been vaccinated.

In a weekly report on Thursday on the global situation, the WHO said the number of new COVID-19 cases appeared to have stabilized, while the total number of weekly deaths was declining.

Vaccine indecision

Although there has been progress, with 60 percent of the world’s vaccinated population, “it’s not over anywhere until it’s over everywhere,” Tedros said.

Deaths are on the rise in Africa, the continent with the lowest vaccination rates, he said.

Only 57 countries – almost all rich – have vaccinated 70 percent of the population.

“Overall, we see disinformation-driven vaccine indecision. “The pandemic will not magically disappear, but we can end it,” Tedros said.

Tedros is expected to be appointed for a second five-year term this week at the WHO Assembly, the annual meeting of member states.

SOURCE: AGENCIES

Link: https://balkans.aljazeera.net/news/world/2022/5/23/sef-who-a-pandemija-covid-a-sigurno-nije-zavrsena