“We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic,” said World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Wednesday of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he said the pandemic still has a hold over the world, Ghebreyesus believes “the end is in sight.”
COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in March 2020 and the disease has thus far claimed more than 6.5 million lives across the planet. More than 1 million COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Last week, the number of weekly reported deaths from COVID-19 was the lowest since March 2020,” Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
He said that, with this progress, people must keep pushing efforts to end the pandemic, such as vaccination. Around 12.6 billion vaccine doses had been administered worldwide as of Friday, and around 67.7% of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated.
“A marathon runner does not stop when the finish line comes into view. She runs harder, with all the energy she has left,” Ghebreyesus said. “So must we.”
The WHO also released six new policy briefs Wednesday that outline key action necessary to bring about the end of the pandemic.
“It’s a summary, based on the evidence and experience of the last 32 months, of what works best to save lives, protect health systems, and avoid social and economic disruption,” Ghebreyesus explained. These briefs call on nations to strengthen their COVID-19 policies and avoid the outbreak of another COVID-19 variant, such as the now-dominant omicron subvariant.
Among the recommendations is a call for all countries to invest in vaccination 100% of their most at-risk groups, including health care workers and senior citizens. Numbers may be trending down, but health care facilities remain a high-risk for transmission, the WHO warned.
“We can end this pandemic together, but only if all countries, manufacturers, communities and individuals step up and seize this opportunity,” said Ghebreyesus.
Previously, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden, and other experts predicted that COVID-19 will become endemic, similar to the flu.
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