The coronavirus pandemic is far from over, cautioned United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as large outbreaks continue to spread in Asia.
In a video message "One World Protected - Break COVID Now" to the GAVI COVAX Advance Market Commitment Summit 2022, Guterres said on Friday, "We're seeing 1.5 million new cases each day. Large outbreaks are spreading in Asia. A new wave is sweeping across Europe."
Stating that new coronavirus variants are emerging every four months on average, he told all governments and pharma companies to work together to ensure every person is vaccinated.
"We are far from our target of every country reaching 70 per cent vaccination coverage by the middle of this year. And with new variants emerging every four months on average, time is of the essence."United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
He pointed out that while many countries are preparing for their second booster doses, one-third of humanity remains unvaccinated.
"This is a brutal indictment of our deeply unequal world. It's also a prime breeding ground for new variants... more deaths... and increased human and economic misery," he said.
He highlighted that the world witnessed a high mortality rate during the third wave due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and is a "startling reminder" of how quickly COVID-19 can mutate and spread.
He said the next variant is not a question of "if" but of "when."
As cases of COVID-19 surge in Europe and East Asia due to Omicron BA.2, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Carissa F. Etienne has urged countries to remain vigilant and urgently close vaccination gaps.
With Omicron BA.2 already detected in 8.7% of sequences reported from South America, “time and time again, we’ve seen how the infection dynamics in Europe are mirrored here just a few weeks later,” the Director said.
“We cannot ignore the risk of further COVID-19 surges,” she added. But we now “know what it takes to protect our people."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update issued this week mentioned that after the rise in coronavirus cases noticed in the first half of March 2022, the variety of new COVID-19 instances has decreased for a second consecutive week, with a 16 percent decline. The weekly deaths have decreased sharply by 43 percent.
As of 3 April, over 489 million instances and over 6 million deaths have been reported globally.
(With inputs from PTI)
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