The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed that at least 90% of the world's population has some form of immunity against COVID, while warning against complacency in preventive measures. During a press conference, Tedros noted that a decline in vigilance leaves the door open for a new variant to potentially emerge and replace the currently dominant Omicron variant.
He added that "the World Health Organization estimates that at least 90% of the world's population currently has some type of immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, either due to infection or vaccination." He cautioned against the temptation to prematurely assert the end of the pandemic's emerging phase, stating, "We have not achieved that yet."
He continued that "gaps in surveillance, testing, analysis, and vaccination continue to provide optimal conditions for the emergence of a new concerning variant that could lead to many deaths." According to Tedros, more than 500 subvariants of the highly contagious Omicron virus are currently spreading.
Countries have reported a total of 6.6 million deaths due to the virus to the World Health Organization, while approximately 640 million confirmed infections have been recorded, but the actual toll is believed to be much higher.
Last week, over 8,500 deaths due to COVID were reported, which Tedros deemed "unacceptable after three years of the pandemic, at a time when we have many tools to prevent infections and save lives."
