It’s unrealistic to think the COVID-19 pandemic will end by year-end: WHO

Pupils wearing protective facemasks stand in the courtyard of a school in Ankara on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

A senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official has said it was "premature" and "unrealistic" to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalisations and death.

The world's singular focus right now should be to keep transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible, said Dr. Michael Ryan, director of WHO's emergencies programme, on Monday. "If we're smart, we can finish with the hospitalisations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic" by the end of the year, he said at a media briefing. Ryan said WHO was reassured by emerging data that many of the licensed vaccines appear to be helping curb the virus' explosive spread.

"If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and not only on hospitalisation, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate towards controlling this pandemic." But Ryan warned against complacency, saying that nothing was guaranteed in an evolving epidemic. "Right now the virus is very much in control," he said.

WHO's director-general, meanwhile, said it was "regrettable" that younger adults in some rich countries are being vaccinated against COVID-19 before at-risk health workers in developing countries. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said immunisations provided by the UN-backed effort COVAX began this week in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, but lamented that this was happening only three months after countries such as Britain, the US and Canada began vaccinating their own populations.

EU to introduce Digital Green Pass
The European Commission's Vice President Margaritis Schinas said that it is set to introduce a Digital Green Pass that will enable the continent's safe opening "while preserving the sacrifices done so far". Addressing an online press conference following an informal meeting of EU health ministers, Schinas said on Monday that the package will be announced on March 17.

Iran issues 4th wave warning
Iranian health authorities issued a warning over a ‘fourth wave' of the pandemic, after registering more than 100 deaths in 24 hours for the first time since January, state TV reported. "The death of 108 patients of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours is sounding the alarm of the fourth wave," Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said.

Italy's infection rate increases again
Italy's COVID-19 infection rate has started to increase over the last week for the first time since December, as the head of the nation's Coronavirus task force was sacked and other health experts called for greater diligence from the public. Total number of new cases reported by the Ministry of Health for Monday was 13,114, down from more than 17,000 a day earlier, reports Xinhua news agency.

1,69,742
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

11,44,99,553
Total no. of cases worldwide

25,40,340
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins