COVID-19 can End in 2022: WHO Chief

COVID-19 pandemic can be out to an end within the next year (2022) if all the people in the world work together, says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Addressing reporters here on Monday, Tedros said the "fastest way" to get back to normal is to make "hard decisions," this festive season amid the Omicron COVID-19 variant's quick spread.

‘Omicron variant that was first discovered in South Africa, is more contagious, and resistant to vaccines. Therefore, WHO Chief has urged people to celebrate and be safe during the holiday season.’

"Canceling an event is better than canceling a life. It is better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and mourn later," he added.

"All of us want to get back to normal... We need to protect ourselves now," Xinhua news agency quoted the WHO chief as further saying.

He also asked the governments to exercise maximum caution in the coming weeks and avoid events with large gatherings.

Since the Omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa, it has now been reported in 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community transmission, according to the WHO.

The new variant is not more severe than the Delta variant, but is possibly more contagious and resistant to vaccines.

On the inequity in access to vaccines, the WHO chief said: "If we are to end the pandemic in the coming year, we must end inequity."



Source: IANS