WHO chief warns public, says pandemic is far from over

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the coronavirus pandemic is far from over and the world needs to use public health tools effectively to tackle it.

"The pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it. It is in our hands. We have all the tools we need: effective public health tools and effective medical tools. But the world has not used those tools well. With almost 50,000 deaths a week, the pandemic is far from over," Tedros said in his address to the World Health Summit in Berlin on Sunday, according to news agency ANI.

The world body chief also urged G20 countries having vaccinated 40 per cent of their population to actively engage in the Covax mechanism and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT). Covax and ACT aim to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to Covid-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines for every country in the world, according to the WHO website.

Ghebreyesus appeal came after UN secretary general Antonio Guterres also called on the G20 countries to help collect $8 billion to ensure a fair distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world.

Addressing the World Health Summit, Gutteres said that he joined the WHO chief earlier to launch a global strategy for Covid-19 vaccination, which suggests a credible and cost-effective plan to deliver vaccines to 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of this year and 70 per cent by mid-2022.

According to data published by the Worldmeters website on Monday, as many as 244,427,410 Covid-19 cases have been registered across the world so far. It also showed that at least 4,963,752 people have lost their lives to the viral disease and the number of recoveries stands at 221,451,949.