Likewise, its evolution is unpredictable and mortality remains at high levels, he added.
In this context, Tedros indicated that efforts must continue so that vaccines, treatments and other tools developed to face the pandemic are distributed equitably between and within countries, and that progress is made in the vaccination of the elderly. 65 years, particularly in Africa.
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Filling the remaining gaps in access to vaccines “is the best way to protect ourselves from future outbreaks,” he told a news conference.
The president of the WHO Emergency Committee, Didier Houssin, maintained that “the time has not come to relax regarding this virus”, nor to lose sight of the importance of continuing to carry out diagnostic tests.
“We cannot stop vaccinating, this is the message that the Committee considers useful to send to citizens and governments,” Houssin said at the same press conference.
Regarding the conditions for Covid-19 to stop being at the maximum health alert level, he explained that different criteria must come together, including epidemiological and others related to the impact of the coronavirus in places where transmission remains high.
“It is wrong to believe that fewer cases means there is less risk. We are glad that there are fewer deaths, but this virus has surprised us in the past, so we have to keep track of it all the time,” said the director of Emergencies WHO Health, Mike Ryan.
The deaths reported in the last week by Covid-19 in the world have been the lowest since the pandemic began.
about the latest discovered subvariants of omicron (named BA.4 AND BA.5), The technical director for Covid-19 at the WHO, Maria Van Kherkove, confirmed that they have been detected in a limited number of countries in Africa and Europe, and it is now being analyzed if they present any significant change with respect to the original variant.
He confirmed that at the moment no changes have been detected in the severity of the disease or in the defense offered by the vaccines, but he also recognized that it is premature to draw conclusions because the number of genetic sequences carried out is low.