WHO chief warns against talk of pandemic ‘endgame’

A demonstrator holds a placard that reads ‘No to vaccine pass’ in opposition to the vaccine pass and vaccinations to protect against COVID-19 during a rally in Paris, France on Saturday. Pic/AP

The head of the World Health Organisation is warning that conditions remain ideal for more coronavirus variants to emerge and says it's dangerous to assume omicron is the last one or that "we are in the endgame", while saying the acute phase of the pandemic could still end this year - if some key targets are met.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's director-general, laid out Monday an array of achievements and concerns in global health over issues like tobacco use, resistance to anti-microbial treatments, and risks of climate change. But he said, "ending the acute phase of the pandemic must remain our collective priority".

"There are different scenarios for how the pandemic could play out and how the acute phase could end. But it's dangerous to assume that omicron will be the last variant or that we are in the endgame," Tedros said this week. "On the contrary, globally, the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge." But he insisted that "we can end COVID-19 as a global health emergency, and we can do it this year," by reaching goals like WHO's, to vaccinate 70 per cent of the population of each country by mid year, with focus on people who are at the highest risk. and improving testing and sequencing rates to track the virus and its emerging variants more closely.

1,12,87,214 No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
35,18,31,176 Total no. of cases worldwide
5,597,569 Total no. of deaths worldwide

‘Omicron may not evade all monoclonal antibodies'

The Omicron variant of coronavirus may evade several, but not all, monoclonal antibodies used clinically to prevent patients from developing severe COVID-19, according to a laboratory study by researchers at Washington University.

More restrictions in place in France

People not vaccinated against COVID-19 are no longer allowed in France's restaurants, bars, tourist sites and sports venues unless they recently recovered from it. The new law requiring a ‘vaccine pass' is central to the government's anti-virus strategy.

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