A senior official at the World Health Organization (WHO) says that despite the ignorance surrounding pandemic expectations, the recent arrival of effective vaccines could assist in dramatically reducing hospitalizations and death.
What We Know:
- Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s emergency program, believes that the world’s only focus should be keeping COVID-19 numbers as low as possible. Ryan has stated in a recent briefing that he believes that we can end hospitalizations and death associated with the pandemic by the end of the year. However, he warns against complacency by asserting that nothing is guaranteed although the virus is “very much in control.” Ryan continues to say we are beginning to see data that shows vaccines are impacting the virus.
- Ryan asserts that once the vaccines show a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risks, we will begin to see accelerated control of the pandemic. Director General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, notes that it is regrettable vaccinations for younger, healthier adults are happening before at-risk health workers in less developed countries. Tedros affirmed that immunizations are finally taking place this week in countries like Ghana and the Ivory Coast. However, this comes three months after countries like the U.S, Britain, and Canada began vaccinations.
- Tedros is not a trained medical doctor but has earned a Doctorate of Philosophy degree from the University of Nottingham in the U.K. He also holds a Masters of Science degree in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the University of London. Tedros revealed that for the first time in seven weeks, COVID-19 cases had spiked after previously showcasing a decline in numbers. The Director General admits that the increase was disappointing but not surprising. Tedros had been Director General for WHO since 2017.
- The Director General continues to say that, after observing the data, the recent spike in cases seemed to be the result of relaxing public health measures. Texas Governor Greg Abbot most recently issued an executive order that would end all COVID-19 restrictions, including masks mandates.
- The executive order is due to come into effect on March 10. Texas is currently the largest state in the U.S to ease restrictions on masks. It appears as if other states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Michigan, will ease health measures. The news comes in the wake of record breaking power outages that swept across the state of Texas a few weeks ago.
WHO remains confident in the data they have collected and, with time, we will see how the nation responds to vaccination efforts to control the coronavirus pandemic.
