
“It’s harmful to imagine that Omicron would be the final variant and that we’re ultimately recreation,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advised a WHO govt board assembly of the two-year pandemic that has killed practically 6 million folks.
“Quite the opposite, globally the circumstances are perfect for extra variants to emerge.”
Although Omicron has despatched complete circumstances hovering to just about 350 million, its much less deadly affect and the rising prevalence of vaccines has led to optimism in some elements that the worst of the pandemic could have handed.
Tedros, the WHO’s first African head who’s operating unopposed for a second time period, urged self-discipline and unity in combatting the coronavirus.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is now getting into its third yr and we’re at a vital juncture,” he advised a information convention earlier. “We should work collectively to deliver the acute part of this pandemic to an finish. We can not let it proceed to pull on, lurching between panic and neglect.”
Germany largest donor
Nations should maximise methods and instruments already out there, resembling testing and inoculation, for the worldwide well being emergency to finish this yr, he stated.
Tedros’ bid for a second time period acquired a lift when the WHO shelved a choice on his native Ethiopia’s request to analyze accusations of hyperlinks to insurgent forces.
He advised board members he was looking for an overhaul of the company’s funding mannequin, with Germany now the most important donor, supplanting Washington which had accused the WHO of pro-China bias below former President Donald Trump’s administration.
The US is resisting a financing proposal that will make the UN well being physique extra unbiased, elevating doubts in regards to the Biden administration’s long-term assist.