The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned governments and citizens not to drop their guard over the Covid pandemic. Speaking at a Geneva news conference, 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 the pandemic still had a long way to run and that decisions made by citizens and governments would determine its course in the short run and when the pandemic would ultimately end. Tedros said, “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. The truth is that at present, many places are witnessing very high transmission of the Covid-19 virus, which is putting enormous pressure on hospitals, intensive care units and health workers.”
Meanwhile, WHO's top emergency expert Mike Ryan cautioned against complacency in the wake of vaccine roll-out, saying that although they were a major part of the battle against Covid-19, vaccines would not on their own end the pandemic. “We are in a pivotal moment in some countries. There are health systems in some countries at the point of collapse,” he said. Ryan said some countries would have to sustain strong control measures for some time or they would risk a “blow up” in cases.
