The World Health Organization (WHO) is cautiously optimistic about the likely corona situation in the next year. Among other things, it is important that at least 70 percent of the population in each country is vaccinated by the middle of the year, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva on Wednesday. Then it is possible that the pandemic at least with its severe courses will end. “We can bring the phase of hospitalizations and death to an end,” said WHO expert Mike Ryan. The WHO is also counting on further advances in the use of drugs in the therapy against Covid-19 in the next year. The acute phase of the pandemic could be over for Ryan in the coming year. But then the virus will not be gone, he says.
Tedros again urged all states not to be stubborn but to help with a fair distribution of the vaccine. “It is time to defy short-term nationalism and protect populations and the economy through equitable distribution of the vaccine around the world.”
The current corona wave caused by the Omikron variant is worrying. Together with the Delta variant, it could lead to a “tsunami of cases,” said Tedros. However, there are initial indications that the course of the disease with Omikron could be milder overall, it said. The uncertainties in assessing the variant are still great.