The World Health Organization has stated that the belief in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of the year is "unrealistic."
Michael Ryan, the director of the organization's emergency program, mentioned that "it will still be possible to reduce the number of hospital cases and deaths. However, the pandemic remains deadly, especially following a recent increase in infection rates this week after a seven-week decline." He added, "In my opinion, it would be premature and unrealistic to think that we will eradicate this virus by the end of the year. But I believe that what we can definitely achieve, if we are smart, is reducing hospitalizations (patients requiring hospital admission), deaths, and the tragedies associated with this pandemic."
Ryan also noted that the WHO focuses on keeping virus infections low, helping to prevent new variants, and reducing the number of infected individuals. He emphasized that vaccinating healthcare workers first and those most vulnerable would help "eliminate the fear and tragedy of the pandemic."
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, aims for the vaccination of healthcare workers globally to commence within the first 100 days of this year, meaning there are 40 days left to reach this goal. Ghebreyesus welcomed the administration of the first vaccine doses under the global COVAX initiative on Monday in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. He stated, "It is encouraging to see healthcare workers in low-income countries starting to receive vaccinations, but it is unfortunate that this occurred three months after some of the wealthiest countries began their vaccination campaigns." He added, "It is regrettable that some countries continue to prioritize vaccinating younger, healthier adults with a lower risk of disease among their populations, instead of healthcare workers and the elderly elsewhere."
