WHO says 'unrealistic' and 'premature' to expect COVID-19 will be over this year

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is "premature" "unrealistic" to expect the coronavirus pandemic will be over by the end of 2021. As reported by Xinhua news agency, Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program said, "I think it will be very premature". However, he also said that the world can reduce the hospitalisations, deaths and the tragedy associated with the pandemic. 

'COVID-19 will not end by 2021'

Dr Ryan said that the world's focus should be to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. He added, "If we're smart, we can finish with the hospitalizations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic by the end of the year." Ryan said WHO was reassured by emerging data that many of the licensed vaccines appear to be helping curb the virus spread. Dr Michael Ryan warned against complacency, saying that nothing was guaranteed in an evolving epidemic.

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WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it was “regrettable” that younger and healthier adults in some rich countries are being vaccinated against the coronavirus before at-risk health workers in developing countries. He said that the countries are not in a race with each other as he mentioned that "this is a common race against the virus". Tedros said that no one is asking countries to put their people at risk but all countries should join the global effort to curb the virus. A senior WHO adviser said, "We can’t tell individual countries what to do". Tedros also noted that for the first time in seven weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases increased last week, after six consecutive weeks of declining numbers. He described the increase as "disappointing", but said it wasn’t surprising.

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(Inputs from AP)