New Delhi (NVI): Recent progress on COVID-19 vaccines is positive but the World Health Organization is concerned this has led to a growing perception that the pandemic has come to an end, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“Progress on vaccines gives us all a lift and we can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, WHO is concerned that there is a growing perception that the COVID-19 pandemic is over,” he said.
“Even as vaccines are rolled out, people will need to keep adhering to public health measures so that everyone is protected”, said Tedros.
He praised the United Kingdom’s emergency authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech rollout which is due to begin next week, describing it as “an important scientific step for the world”.
“We know it’s been a hard year and people are tired, but in hospitals that are running at, or over, capacity; it’s the hardest it can possibly be”, said the WHO chief, making a personal appeal for everyone everywhere to be careful.
“The pandemic still has a long a way to run and decisions made by leaders and citizens in the coming days will determine both the course of the virus in the short term, and when this pandemic will ultimately end”, he further added.
The virus emerged in Wuhan, China, a year ago since when more than 65 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1.5 million have died.
-CHK
