He said: “More than 80 million cases of the highly contagious variant have been reported to WHO, more than COVID cases reported in all of 2020.
However, he noted that the “explosion of cases” so far “cannot match the spike in deaths”.
Ghebreyesus said that the pandemic will not end, new variations will emerge.
The head of WHO said: “It is true that we will live with COVID in the near future.
“It’s dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the final variant, or that we’re in the endgame.
In contrast, globally, ideal conditions for more variation emerge, Ghebreyesus said, adding that the world cannot “bet with a virus that our evolution cannot” controllable or predictable”.
He noted that the world must learn to live with it, which does not “mean we give this virus away for free”.
“We will need to learn how to manage it through an integrated and sustainable system for acute respiratory diseases, which will provide the foundation for preparing for future pandemics.” To change the course of the pandemic, he said, it is essential to achieve the goal of immunizing 70% of the population of every country.
He lamented that about 85% of Africa’s population had yet to receive a single dose of the vaccine.
He also recommends strong clinical management, equitable access to diagnosis, oxygen and antiretroviral drugs at the point of care; Increase testing and sequencing rates globally to closely monitor viruses and track the emergence of new variants.
Source: IANS
