‘False sense of security’ around COVID-19 vaccines: WHO chief

Hyderabad: World Health organisation chief Dr. Tedros Adhnom on November 24 expressed concerns over the lack of responsibility by the people with regards to COVID-19 vaccines.

At a meeting held in Geneva, he urged people to take all necessary precautions irrespective of being vaccinated or not. He remarked that the “pandemic is not over yet”. The WHO chief emphasised on taking precautions even after being vaccinated saying, “We cannot say this clearly enough: even if you are vaccinated, continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected yourself, and infecting someone else who could die,” reported Al Jazeera.

The pandemic continues to loom over the world , as many regions are still facing a major crisis. Despite being technologically advanced, Europe continues to face a major crisis.

Crisis in Europe

Expressing concers over the situation in Europe, the emergencies director of WHO, Michael Ryan remarked that, people were back to the levels of pre-pandemic social mixing. He highlighted the constant rise in COVID-19 cases ,and the number of people being hospitalised. Ryan warned that the virus will continue to transmit in such an environment.

The Delta variant seems to be the reason for the re-emergence of the continent as an epicenter of the the pandemic. Slow vaccination rate and the lifting of travel restrictions are among the major reasons for the re-emergence of COVID-19 in the continent.

Europe had recorded 2.4 million cases during the last week, which was 11% higher than the week before. Germany witnessed an infection hike of 31% .

Adding to its pandemic challenge, Europe has also witnessed clashes between security forces and masses protesting the strict lockdown impositions in many countries.

IP Waiver Treaty

The WHO chief was hopeful that, a consensus on property waiver would be reached during the upcoming WTO meet. It is to be noted that so far a 100 countries have agreed to lift the intellectual property rights over vaccine production. He stated, “it is unique opportunity to reach on consensus on the IP Waiver.”