Impact of Covid-19 pandemic will be felt for decades, says WHO chief

Team News Porter

The impact of the pandemic will be felt for decades, especially among the most vulnerable groups, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.

The WHO Director-General said this during his opening remarks at the signing ceremony for the MoU between WHO and the Commonwealth Secretariat on 7 February 2022.

“That’s why it’s critical that nations work together even more closely to support all countries to vaccinate 70% of their populations by the middle of this year, strengthen the resilience of health systems, and work towards an inclusive economic recovery,” he said.

“At present, only 42% of the population of Commonwealth countries have received a full course of vaccination, and there is wide disparity between countries. African countries of the Commonwealth have achieved an average vaccination rate of just 23%. 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 a sustainable recovery.”

“We can only bridge that gap by working together in partnership – which is true for so many of the challenges we face,” he noted.

[Main Image: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus/Wikipedia(By ITU Pictures from Geneva, Switzerland]