Covid-19: Pandemic's 'Acute Phase' Can End By Mid Year If 70% Gets Vaccinated, Says WHO

COVID-19: WHO on Friday stated that this year could see the end of the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic if 70% of the population was vaccinated.

World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (File photo: AFP)

New Delhi: The World Health Organisation's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday said the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic could end this year if around 70 perccent of the world gets vaccinated, AFP reported.

"Our expectation is that the acute phase of this pandemic will end this year, of course with one condition, the 70 percent vaccination (target is achieved) by mid this year around June, July," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in South Africa.

"If that is to be done, the acute phase can really end, and that is what we are expecting. It's in our hands. It's not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice," the WHO chief further said.

The comments came during his visit to Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, which has produced the first mRNA Covid vaccine made in Africa using Moderna's sequence.

"We expect this vaccine to be more suited to the contexts in which it will be used, with fewer storage constraints and at a lower price," said the WHO boss.

The vaccine will be ready for clinical trials in November, with approval expected in 2024, AFP reported. Afrigen is driving the pilot project, supported by the WHO and the COVAX initiative.

Just 11% of Africans are inoculated, the lowest in the world. Last week the WHO's Africa office said the continent must boost its vaccination rate "six times" to reach the 70 per cent target.

According to the World Bank, the Covid-19 pandemic is estimated to have pushed up to 40 million people into extreme poverty on the continent.

"Every month of delay in lifting containment measures is estimated to cost Africa US$ 13.8 billion in lost gross domestic product," the World Health Organisation's Africa director Matshidiso Moeti has said.

The WHO has also warned that the Omicron Covid-19 variant would not be the last one and the possibility of other new variants was really high.

"Omicron is the latest variant of concern. It will not be the last variant of concern that WHO will speak about. The next one, you know, that will come hopefully, it will take some time to get there. But with the level of intensity of spread, the possibility that we will have other variants is really high," said WHO Covid-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove.

(With inputs from agencies)