Global conditions are ideal for more Covid variants to emerge: WHO chief

As the world grapples with the surge of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that globally the conditions are ideal for more strains to emerge.

Stating that over 80 million cases have been reported worldwide since the Omicron surge, more than the entire 2020, the WHO chief noted that it’s not going to be the last Covid-19 variant to emerge in the ongoing pandemic.

Ghebreyesus, however, assured that the Covid-19 global health agency and the “acute phase of the pandemic” can be ended this year itself if countries use strategies and tools comprehensively.

To achieve this, he said that countries must aim to vaccinate at least 70% of its population with a focus on high priority groups, which include older adults, healthcare workers and vulnerable individuals.

Ghebreyesus added that countries need to boost Covid-19 testing, look out for more variants in the future, find solutions to the pandemic-related problems, and not keep waiting for the crisis to be over.

“We must work together to bring the acute phase of this pandemic to an end. We cannot let it continue to drag on, lurching between panic and neglect,” the WHO chief was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Ghebreyesus made the statements during the 150th session of the WHO Executive Board meeting. During the week-long meeting, several key elements of the United Nation health agency, including Ghebreyesus’ second term as the director general and a proposal to make the agency more financially independent, are expected to be discussed, Reuters reported.