‘We May Never End The Virus, But Health Emergency Can End This Year,’ Says Top WHO Official

The head of emergencies at the WHO said that pandemic could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly

Coronavirus pandemic | GETTY

New Delhi: As the world entered into the third year of pandemic, the worst of the health crises that witnessed deaths, hospitalisations and lockdowns could be over this year only if the imbalance in Covid-19 vaccinations is addressed, as per the World Health Organization (WHO)

The head of emergencies at the WHO said on Tuesday that the pandemic could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly, according to the news agency AP.

While speaking at a panel discussion on vaccine inequity hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Dr Michael Ryan said “We may never end the virus” because such pandemic viruses “end up becoming part of the ecosystem”. But “we have a chance to end the public health emergency this year if we do the things that we've been talking about”, he said.

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Criticising the imbalance in Covid-19 vaccinations between rich and poor countries as a catastrophic moral failure, WHO said fewer than 10 percent of people in lower-income countries have received even one dose of the vaccine.

Addressing the virtual gathering of world and business leaders, Dr. Ryan stated if vaccines and other tools aren't shared fairly, the tragedy of the virus, which has so far killed more than 5.5 million people worldwide, would continue.

“What we need to do is get to low levels of disease incidence with maximum vaccination of our populations, so nobody has to die,” said Dr Ryan.

“The issue is: It's the death. It's the hospitalizations. It's the disruption of our social, economic, political systems that's caused the tragedy — not the virus."

Dwelling on whether Covid-19 should be considered endemic, a label some countries like Spain have asked in order to ensure that better help live with the virus or still a pandemic that requires intensified measures that many countries have taken to contain the spread.

 “What we need to do is get to low levels of disease incidence with maximum vaccination of our populations, so nobody has to die,” Dr. Ryan added.

“Endemic malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people; endemic HIV; endemic violence in our inner cities. Endemic in itself does not mean good. Endemic just means it's here forever," he said.