With the advent of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, the World Health Organisation, WHO has expressed worry that though almost eight billion vaccines have been administered around the world, one hundred and three countries still have not reached the forty percent target, and more than half of them are at risk of missing the vaccines by the end of the year.
In his opening remark at a Special Session of the World Health Assembly, the Director General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said COVID-19 has exposed and worsened fundamental weaknesses in global preparedness and response to pandemics, noting that the Omicron variant has demonstrated the need for global accord on pandemics through legally binding agreement between nations.
He called on member States to support the target to vaccinate forty percent of their population by the end of this year, and seventy percent by the middle of next year.
The WHO Director General noted that the organization’s position remains that health workers, older people and other at-risk groups must be vaccinated first in all countries before those at low risk of serious disease, and before boosters are given to already-vaccinated healthy adults