Covid, WHO: 'Our target is to vaccinate 70% of the world's population by mid-2022'
Covid, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus “On distribution of vaccine doses horrible injustice in the world”
“Our common goal must be to vaccinate 70% of the population of each country” against Covid “by the middle of next year.
Achieving it requires commitment, preparation and skill. But the prize will be lives saved and a sustainable global recovery”.
This was said by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his address to the 138th session of the IOC in Tokyo, on the occasion of the Olympic Games.
OMS: “ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF COVID VACCINE DOSES HORRIBLE INJUSTICE IN THE WORLD”
“To date, more than 3.5 billion doses of Covid vaccines have been administered globally and more than 1 in 4 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
This may sound like good news, but it actually masks a horrible injustice: 75% of vaccines were administered in only 10 countries, while in low-income countries only 1% of people received at least one dose, compared to more than half of people in high-income countries,” Ghebreyesus explained.
Moreover, “some of the richest countries are now talking about a third booster for their populations, while health workers, the elderly and other vulnerable groups in the rest of the world continue to go without”.
Ghebreyesus then explained the reasons behind his presence at the IOC session: “More than any other event, the Olympics have the power to unite the world, to inspire, to show what is possible.
And more than any other event, they attract the attention of the people of the world: that’s why I’ve come”.
In the world “more than 4 million people have died and more continue to die. Already this year, the number of deaths is more than double last year’s total.
As I speak, more than 100 people are losing their lives and between now and 8 August, when the Olympic flame is extinguished, another 100,000 people will die.
And millions of survivors continue to suffer long-term health consequences because of Covid”.
According to the WHO director-general, “the global failure to share vaccines, tests and treatments against Covid, including oxygen, is fuelling a twin-track pandemic”
“The rich are opening up,’ he said, ‘while the poor are closing down.
The longer this discrepancy persists, the longer the pandemic will drag on and so will the social and economic turmoil it will bring.
The tragedy of this pandemic is that it could have been under control by now if the vaccine had been distributed equitably, but the distortion in production first and distribution later amplified the inequalities’.
WHO: ‘ANYONE WHO THINKS THE COVID PANDEMIC IS OVER IS LIVING IN A FOOL’S PARADISE’
“Anyone who thinks the Covid pandemic is over because where they live is living in a fool’s paradise.
Vaccines are powerful and essential tools, but the world has not used them well”.
This was said by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his speech at the 138th session of the IOC under way in Tokyo, on the occasion of the Olympic Games.
That is why, he added, “19 months after the start of the pandemic and 7 months after the approval of the first vaccines, we are now in the early stages of another wave of infections and deaths”.
“The Covid-19 pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it.
It’s all in our hands, we have all the tools we need: we can prevent this disease, diagnose it and treat it.
We can choose to end the pandemic”.
This was said by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his address to the 138th session of the IOC in Tokyo, during the Olympic Games.
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