'We will sit at family tables missing a familiar face: WHO chief Tedros shares Christmas message

The year of the pandemic has been tough and many people have sacrificed their time with family and friends to cater to the medical, mental and physical emergencies.

Now, as the holiday season has arrived, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief is requesting people not to let the sacrifices of the frontline workers go to waste.

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The WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to Twitter to share a video-recorded Christmas message urging g people to stay safe by staying apart. " wish everyone a safe and restful holiday season. This year by staying apart to stay safe from #COVID19, we can all give the most important gifts of all: the gifts of life and health. #InThisTogether," he tweeted.

"As 2020 draws to an end, a pandemic of historic proportions is preventing many of us from celebrating in the ways we would like," Tedros said in the message.

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Talking about the "heart-wrenching sacrifices" being made by the frontline workers, Tedros reminded the general public that these experts and workers "in doing so, they are giving the most precious gifts: the gifts of life and health."

He also talked about how the vaccines are now giving a ray of hope for the world, but also urged people to exercise caution to not let the sacrifices of the people who lost their loved ones in this pandemic go to waste.

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"We must not squander their sacrifices, nor those made by so many families who, this holiday season, will sit at family tables missing a familiar face.

"Despite so much loss, we have built so much hope. Vaccines are offering the world a way out of this tragedy. But it will take time for the whole world to be vaccinated."

His message has come at a point when several countries are finding new variants of the novel coronavirus, such as the UK, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Nigeria and Ireland.