Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday, said that COVID-19 vaccines is not enough to fight the pandemic.
The international health organisation warned against complacency and what it said was an erroneous belief that because vaccines are on the near-horizon, the crisis is over.
“Progress on vaccines gives us all a lift and we can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, WHO is concerned that there is a growing perception that the COVID-19 pandemic is over,” he said.
Tedros asserted that the pandemic still has a long way to run and that its ultimate end will be decided by citizens and governments.
“We know it’s been a hard year and people are tired, but in hospitals that are running at or over capacity it’s the hardest it can possibly be,” he said.
“The truth is that at present, many places are witnessing very high transmission of the COVID-19 virus, which is putting enormous pressure on hospitals, intensive care units and health workers.”
On Wednesday, Britain approved Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine, toppling the rest of the world in the race to begin mass inoculations.
This raised hopes that the tide could soon turn against a virus that has killed nearly 1.5 million people globally.
