“2022 must be the year in which the COVID-1 pandemic ends9, but also the beginning of a new era of solidarity. “This was stated by the director general of the World Health Organization (OMS), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In a press conference in which he took stock of this pandemic year, Tedros acknowledged that it has been “a very hard 12 months for everyone, but we cannot allow it to be a spoiled year.”
That is why it asks the global community to learn the lessons of 2021 in which more than 3.5 million people have died because of the disease, even more than in 2020.
“The year 2021 gave us many reasons to be hopeful, in the form of vaccines that undoubtedly saved many lives, but on the other hand the inequality in the distribution of doses also cost many lives, “he said, recalling that the coronavirus continues to cause some 50,000 deaths per week.
He has also taken the opportunity to remember that as omicron is becoming the dominant variant “we have to take extra precautions.”
Only half of the world’s countries reach 40% of vaccinated
Only half of the countries in the world have managed to reach the goal that the WHO had set to vaccinate at least 40% of their populations against COVID-19 before the end of the year.
The director of the WHO has criticized this failure in the objectives that occurs “while some countries distribute booster vaccines to their entire population“.
How is it possible that three out of four health workers in Africa are still unvaccinated “
In the middle of this year, Tedros had already asked the most advanced countries in vaccination to delay supplemental dose administration plans in favor of facilitating vaccination in countries where vaccination is not progressing at the same rate.
“It is difficult to understand how it is possible that, a year after the first vaccines against COVID-19 were developed, three out of four health workers in Africa are still unvaccinated“, has criticized the general director.
However, Tedros has stressed that little by little the COVAX program, with which the WHO redistributes vaccines mainly in developing countries, has an increasing supply, is accelerating its distribution, and in the last three months it has been able to send some 400 million doses, approximately the same amount as in the six months previous.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
