WHO worries about ‘tsunami of cases’ – ‘Twin threat’ by Omicron and Delta

LAST UPDATE: 19:03

The World Health Organization (WHO) is deeply concerned about the “tsunami of cases” caused by the simultaneous spread of the Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus, expressed by the Director General of the Tantros Antanom Gebregesus.

“Delta and Omicron are now a ‘twin threat’ leading to record cases and a spate of hospitalizations and deaths,” Ananom told a news conference on Wednesday.

“I am particularly concerned about the fact that Omicron is highly contagious and is spreading at the same time as the Delta, leading to a tsunami of cases,” added the WHO director general.

At the same time, he reiterated his call for all countries to distribute vaccines more equitably and warned that the emphasis on booster doses could leave poorer countries without vaccines.

The WHO chief stressed that the Agency is working to ensure that all countries have achieved the vaccination coverage target of 70% by mid-2022, which would help end the acute phase of the pandemic.

It is worth noting that since December 2019, when the coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, more than 281 million people have been infected with the virus worldwide, while the deaths attributed to Covid-19 disease, which it causes, exceed 5 million, according to with Reuters data.

Risk of developing vaccine-resistant variants

At the same time, the head of the World Health Organization warned that as the pandemic continues, variations of the coronavirus that could be fully resistant to vaccines could appear.

“As long as this pandemic continues, it is possible that the new variants will avoid our ‘countermeasures’ and become fully resistant to existing vaccines or post-infection immunity, necessitating the adaptation of vaccines,” said Ananom.

He warned that if a vaccine-resistant strain of coronavirus eventually appeared and pharmaceutical companies had to modify their vaccines, “there might be a shortage of supply”.

In this context, he stressed that it is important for countries to develop local production of vaccines before this happens.

However, he stressed that despite the continuing threat to public health posed by the pandemic and the risk of new mutations, he was “optimistic” that the acute phase of the pandemic could end in 2022.