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It is unrealistic to expect COVID-19 pandemic to end this year— WHO
By Modupe Shodeinde
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday, has said it was unlikely that the COVID-19 pandemic end in 2021.
Director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, Michael Ryan, at a news conference said it would be “very premature and unrealistic” to think the virus will end this year.
“What we can finish with – if we are smart – is hospitalisations, deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic,” he said.
According to him, WHO’s focus at present is to keep transmissions as low as possible and vaccinate more and more people.
He stated that delivery of vaccine doses has improved compared to 10 weeks ago although there are ‘huge challenges’ in distributing them.
“If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and hospitalisation, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate toward controlling this pandemic,” Ryan said.
In a related event, the first phase of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, yesterday. The vaccines arrived the country aboard Emirates flight, which landed at about noon.
Some top government officials, who took delivery of the vaccines Includes; the PTF Chairman, Boss Mustapha; Minister for Health, Osagie Ehanire; Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; and Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu.
Last week, the Healthcare Minister, Osagie Ehanire, had stated that once the vaccines arrive in the country, about 70 per cent of the population was expected to be inoculated within two years.
