WHO calls for end to ‘two-track pandemic’ response

Globally, we continue to see encouraging signs in the course of the pandemic. The number of new cases of Covid-19 reported to the World Health Organization has been declining for six consecutive weeks. Mortality decreased for five weeks. However, we still see a mixed picture around the world. The number of reported deaths rose last week in three of the six WHO regions: Africa, the Americas and the Western Pacific. Increasingly, we are seeing a two-track pandemic. Many countries are still facing a very dangerous situation, while some of the countries with the highest vaccination rates are starting to talk about ending restrictions. The unfair distribution of vaccines allowed the virus to continue to spread, increasing the chances of a variant emerging that would make vaccines less effective. Six months after the first vaccines were given, high-income countries had given nearly 44 percent of the world’s doses. Low-income countries manage only 0.4 percent. The most frustrating thing about this statistic is that it hasn’t changed in months. At the World Health Assembly, I called for a massive global effort to vaccinate at least 10 percent of the population in all countries by September, and at least 30 percent by the end of the year. To reach these goals, we need an additional 250 million doses by September, and we need 100 million doses in June and July alone.