WHO says 77 countries have reported cases of the Ômicron variant
Booster vaccines can help contain the spread of covid-19, as long as people most in need of protection also have access to them, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday (14).
"It's a matter of prioritization. Order matters. Reinforcing groups at low risk of serious illness or death simply threatens the lives of those at high risk who are still awaiting their primary doses because of supply constraints," said the director. WHO general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a virtual briefing .
"On the other hand, giving additional doses to people at high risk may save more lives than giving prime doses to those at low risk."
He noted that the emergence of the Ômicron variant has led some countries to initiate covid-19 booster vaccine programs for all of their adult populations, while researchers lacked evidence on the effectiveness of boosters against this variant.
Tedros said 77 countries have already reported cases of Ômicron “and the reality is that Ômicron is probably in most countries, even if it has not yet been detected. Ômicron is spreading at a pace that we have not seen with any previous variants.” he said.
WHO fears that people are downplaying Ômicron because they consider it mild.
"Certainly, we've learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. Even if micron does cause less serious illnesses, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," he said.
Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency specialist, said the peak of this wave of infections is still "a few weeks" away, given the very rapid proliferation of Ômicron.
Kate O'Brien, a WHO vaccine expert, said unvaccinated people must be top priority as they are putting pressure on health systems.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
