Amid fears of new variant, WHO expert says that pandemic can end in 2022
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While people were trying to battle the Delta variant, a new variant named Omicron emerged in NovemberPand
Maria Van Kerkhove, the Covid technical lead at the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that we can globally overcome the pandemic in 2022. During the WHO Q and A stream, she said, "2022 is the year we can end the Covid-19 pandemic. We have tools now. We can take the death out of Covid-19".
The ongoing pandemic has taken over the entire global and everyone is facing the consequences. While people were trying to battle the Delta variant, a new variant named Omicron emerged in November.
In October, the WHO launched a strategy that aimed at achieving global Covid-19 vaccination by mid-2022. Under this, it highlighted several actions through which it could achieve 70 per cent global immunisation by the middle of 2022.
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros A Ghebreyesus provided an update on the Omicron variant strain, saying that 77 nations have already reported cases of the newly discovered strain. He went on to say, "Omicron is spreading at a rate we haven't seen with any other variety."
He believed that Covid vaccination alone will not be enough to stop the pandemic, and that mask use, social distancing, ventilation, and hand hygiene should be prioritised. Dr Tedros stated, "The WHO is not against booster doses, but against inequity."
(With inputs from agencies)