Impact of Covid will be felt for decades, says WHO chief

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 07, 2022: World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the impact of Covid will be felt for decades even as the spread of virus is slowing down across the world.

 

The WHO chief said that the impact will be felt among the most vulnerable groups and the longer the pandemic drags on, the impact would be worse.

"The impact of the Covid pandemic will be felt for decades, especially among the most vulnerable groups. The longer the pandemic drags on, the worse those impacts will be," Dr Tedros said.

Dr Tedros said that at present only 42 per cent of the population of Commonwealth countries have received a double dose of vaccination and there is a wide disparity between countries.

"African countries of the Commonwealth have achieved an average vaccination rate of just 23 per cent. Bridging this gap is an urgent priority for WHO, not only for bringing the pandemic under control and saving lives, but also for protecting livelihoods, and supporting sustainable recovery," he said.

Earlier, WHO had warned that as the virus evolves, vaccines may need to evolve as well. Variants of SARS-CoV-2 may continue to escape neutralising antibodies induced by vaccines against prior variants, Tedros said.

According to WHO, the reservoir of beta coronaviruses is large and new mutations are likely.

Courtesy:India Today