The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over amid vaccine rollout in many countries.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “[R]ight now, intensive care units in many countries are overflowing and people are dying – and it’s totally avoidable.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a long way from over. But we have many reasons for optimism. The decline in cases and deaths during the first two months of the year shows that this virus and its variants can be stopped,” he added.
The WHO Director-General, however, said that the pandemic can be under control in the next few months if health protocols will be in place.
According to Reuters, around 780 million vaccines have been administered globally since December last year.
India has overtaken Brazil to become the nation with the second-highest number of infections worldwide after the United States.
India is battling a second wave of coronavirus cases, having given about 105 million vaccine doses among a population of 1.4 billion.
Tedros said noted that in some countries, despite continuing transmission, restaurants and nightclubs were full and markets were open and remain crowded.
“Some people appear to be taking the approach that if they’re relatively young, it doesn’t matter if they get COVID-19,” he said.
