WHO chief pandemic may end in 2022 if 70% of population is vaccinated
Photo: Denis Balibouse / Reuters
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus pandemic could end next year. According to him, for this, 70 percent of the population must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the middle of the year. He announced this at a press conference of the organization.
“If we want the pandemic to end next year, we must end inequalities and vaccinate 70% of every country's population by the middle of next year,” he said.
He also noted that WHO now has strong evidence that the omicron strain is spreading much faster than the delta strain. According to him, vaccinated and recovered with a high degree of probability can become infected with coronavirus.
Gebreyesus stressed that it will be possible to put an end to the pandemic only by putting an end to the spread of the virus. He also added that China should provide more information on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 to help cope with the pandemic and prepare for similar situations in the future.
Earlier, the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Russia, Melita Vujnovich, saw signs of the country's reaching a plateau in COVID-19 and a change in the epidemic situation. At the same time, she noted that, despite reaching a plateau, the incidence rate in the country is very high, “close to 30 thousand cases per day.”
