As the Covid-19 pandemic and the new Omicron variant wreak havoc around the world, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on Monday, December 20 for the greatest caution during family reunions during the end of year celebrations. He also assured that the WHO would do everything to ensure that 2022 is ” the year we end the pandemic “.
Several countries are confined, close their borders or take new restrictive measures. At the end of 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic still weighs heavily on the planet. The new Omicron variant is spreading fast. United States announced on Monday that it was now the majority in their territory, surpassing the Delta variant. It represents 73.2% of new infections.
It was in this difficult Fifth Wave context that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke earlier Monday at a press conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The director general of the powerful UN agency spoke of Christmas and the holiday season, conducive to gatherings and therefore to the circulation of the coronavirus. The WHO, through the voice of its Ethiopian representative, recommends the greatest caution, even if it means canceling the festivities.
” More gatherings during the holidays means more contaminations, more saturated health services and more deaths, warned TedrosAdhanom ghebreyesus. It’s a certainty. We are all tired of this pandemic. We all wish we could get together with our family and friends. The best way to do this is to make tough decisions. The only ones who can protect us and our loved ones. “
” It means, in some cases, canceling the events that we had planned, continues the director of the WHO. But it’s much better to cancel them now and celebrate afterwards, than to celebrate now and cry later. A canceled party is better than a lost life. “
“We must end vaccine inequity”
Two years after the emergence of this coronavirus, the head of the WHO is looking towards 2022 and is already making a wish: ” In the coming year, WHO is committed to doing everything in its power to end the pandemic. 2022 must be the year we end the pandemic. “
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus once again pleaded for better access to vaccines in disadvantaged countries. ” If we are to end the pandemic in the coming year, we must end (vaccine) inequity by ensuring that 70% of the population in each country is vaccinated by the middle of the year. next », He affirmed.
The leader reiterated that the WHO was not opposed to booster doses, but stressed that they should be reserved for people at risk or over 65 years of age. The head of the WHO thus estimated that countries which administer booster doses to adults or children in perfect health would do better to try to share these doses or to convince unvaccinated people to take the plunge.
Omicron: “Still too early to conclude that this is a moderate variant”
As for the Omicron variant, which is spreading at full speed on the planet and panics the health authorities, its degree of dangerousness is still difficult to assess, according to the WHO. ” We have to wait and collect more information until we understand the real behavior “Of this variant, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who invites everyone to” take the situation seriously “.
The Omicron strain, which has multiple mutations, was first detected in South Africa and Botswana in November. WHO Chief Scientific Officer Dr Soumya Swaminathan, who also attended the press conference on Monday, said initial data from South Africa showed hospitalizations remained lower than in previous waves related to Delta. And the number of people hospitalized in need of oxygen or intensive care is lower.
Soumya Swaminathan, however, felt that it was “ still too early to conclude that this is a moderate variant “. ” We’re only just starting. As Omicron spreads, it’s going to affect the whole world, the unvaccinated people, the elderly. We will then see if it is also benign in these people She warned.
The real fear is to see this variant ” overwhelm health systems ”And consequently cause many deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 5.3 million people have lost their lives worldwide, according to official data from researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
(With AFP)