GENEVA (Reuters) – The world could bring the global COVID-19 pandemic under control in the coming months, provided it distributes the necessary resources equitably, the head of the World Health Organization said in a news briefing on Monday.
Global climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who joined the briefing as a virtual guest in Sweden, took a look at “vaccine nationalism” and said it was unethical for rich countries to prioritize younger citizens for vaccination over vulnerable groups from developing countries.
“We have the tools to control this pandemic in a few months if we apply them consistently and fairly,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
However, he expressed concern about the “alarming rate” at which COVID-19 is spreading to those aged 25 to 59 worldwide, possibly due to more contagious variants.
“It took nine months to reach one million deaths; 4 months to reach 2 million and 3 months to reach 3 million.”
Thunberg said that while one in four people in high-income countries has now been vaccinated against COVID-19, only one in more than 500 people in poorer countries has been hit.
“Vaccine nationalism is what drives the distribution of vaccines,” she said.
“The only moral thing to do is give priority to the people who are most vulnerable, whether they live in a high-income or a low-income country.”
Damage to the environment
Thunberg also drew a direct link between the pandemic and the destruction of the environment, which he said made it much easier for dangerous viruses to jump from animal populations to humans.
“Science shows that we will experience more frequent and devastating pandemics, unless we drastically change the ways and means of treating nature … We create ideal conditions for diseases to spread from one animal to another and for us,” she said.
Thunberg called on young people everywhere to get vaccinated if given an opportunity, even if they are the least at-risk age group in COVID-19, out of “solidarity with people in (high) risk groups”.
One of WHO’s leading epidemiologists, Maria van Kerkhove, told the same briefing that the latest increase in COVID-19 infections worldwide has included increases in the age groups previously affected by the pandemic.
“We are seeing increased transmission rates in all age groups,” she said, adding that about 5.2 million cases were reported last week, the largest weekly increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
“We are seeing a slight age change in some countries, caused by the social mix,” she added.
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