The WHO chief on Monday greeted the “encouraging” news regarding the Covid-19 vaccines. (File)
Geneva:
The head of the World Health Organization on Monday praised the “encouraging” news about Covid-19 vaccines, but expressed concern about the surge in cases in many countries and insisted that complacency was not was not an option.
“We continue to receive encouraging news on COVID-19 vaccines and remain cautiously optimistic about the potential of new tools to start arriving in the coming months,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the meeting. ‘a virtual press briefing.
But he added: “Now is not the time for complacency.”
His comments came as global hopes of overcoming the coronavirus pandemic were boosted after a second vaccine candidate was found to be nearly 95% effective in an ongoing trial.
News from US biotech company Moderna brought much-needed optimism in a world facing increased infections and grueling new restrictions.
This follows the announcement of similar results last week for a vaccine candidate developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
But the WHO has warned that the widespread availability of any vaccine is still a long way off, even as cases and deaths of Covid-19 are increasing in many parts of the world.
“This is a dangerous virus, which can attack all systems in the body,” Tedros said. “Countries that let the virus run unchecked are playing with fire.”
The vaccine alone ‘won’t end the pandemic’
Globally, infections have skyrocketed to over 54 million with more than 1.3 million deaths, and experts warn there are still tough and dangerous months ahead.
“A vaccine alone will not end the pandemic,” Tedros warned earlier Monday.
Speaking at the evening press conference, he said the WHO was “extremely concerned about the surge in cases that we are seeing in some countries”.
He expressed particular concern about the situation in Europe and the Americas, where health workers and systems “are being pushed to the breaking point.”
“Frontline health workers have been strained for months. They are exhausted, ”he warned.
“We have to do all we can to protect them, especially during this time when the virus is on the rise and patients are filling hospital beds.”
Tedros insisted that countries had “no excuse for inaction.
“A laissez-faire attitude to the virus – not using the full range of tools available – leads to death, suffering and harms livelihoods and economies,” he said.
“It’s not a choice between lives or livelihoods. The fastest way to open up economies is to beat the virus.”
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
