The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday he is concerned about Omicron and Delta variants of COVID-19 causing a “tsunami” of cases, but said he still expected the world to be behind the worst. Pandemic will strike. 2022.
Two years after the coronavirus first emerged, top UN health agency officials cautioned that it was still too early to be convinced by early data that Omicron, the latest version, leads to milder illness. First reported last month in southern Africa, it is already the dominant variant in the United States and parts of Europe.
And after 92 of the WHO’s 194 member states missed their target of vaccinating 40 percent of their population by the end of this year, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on everyone to get behind the campaign to vaccinate a “New Year’s resolution”. urged to do By the beginning of July, 70 percent of the country’s population.
Reading: World record rise in new Covid cases, weekly tally up 11% from last week: WHO
According to WHO data, the number of reported COVID-19 cases across the world has increased by 11 percent compared to the previous week, with nearly 4.99 million new cases reported from December 20-26 Huh. New cases in Europe – which made up more than half of the total – were up 3 percent, while those in the Americas rose by 39 percent and Africa by 7 percent. There has been a gradual increase in global profits since October.
“I am highly concerned that Omicron, by being more permeable (and) circulating at the same time as Delta, is causing a tsunami of cases,” Tedros told an online news conference. It would “put immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the verge of collapse,” he said.
The WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to Omicron “remains very high.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a development advantage over the Delta version.
It noted that South Africa has seen a decline in the incidence of cases, and that preliminary data from that country, the UK and Denmark, suggest a reduced risk of hospitalization with Omicron, but added that more data is required.
Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s chief of emergencies, underlined that note of caution. He added that in the coming weeks it will be important to “reduce the transmission of both variants to the minimum that we can.”
Ryan said that the omicron infection largely began in young people, “but what we haven’t seen is a fully established omicron wave in the wider population. And I’m a little nervous to make positive predictions until we see this.” Don’t see how well the vaccine’s safety is going to work in those older and more vulnerable populations.”
WHO officials did not offer specific comment on decisions by the US and other countries to reduce the period of self-isolation. “These are decision calls that countries make” — taking into account scientific, economic and other factors, Ryan said. He said that the average incubation period so far has been around five to six days.
Regarding Omicron “we need to be careful about immediately changing tactics and strategies based on what we’re seeing,” Ryan said.
Tedros renewed long-standing warnings that “ending health inequality is the key to ending the pandemic.” He said missing the target of vaccinating 40 percent of the population this year is “not only a moral shame – it has cost lives and provided opportunities for the virus to go unchecked and mutate.”
Countries largely missed targets because of limited supplies to low-income countries for most of the year and then vaccines near their expiration dates, without things like syringes, he said.
All the same, “I am still optimistic that this may be the year when we can not only end the acute phase of the pandemic, but we can also forge a path to stronger health security,” Tedros said.