COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic that humanity will face, according to the UN Secretary-General
New York: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic is not the last of its kind and that people should take precautions to avoid similar crises in the future.
“COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic to strike humanity. We must prepare for the next health crisis as we respond to this one. Let us give this issue the focus, attention, and investment it deserves on this International Day of Epidemic Preparedness “In a tweet, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated.
The first-ever International Day of Epidemic Preparedness was observed on December 27 last year, after the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed on the importance of advocating for epidemic preparedness and prevention.
During a press conference last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that blanket COVID-19 vaccine booster programs could prolong the pandemic and increase inequity. “No country can boost its way out of the pandemic,” he said in Geneva during his final press conference of the year.
“And boosters cannot be viewed as a free pass to proceed with planned celebrations without the need for other safeguards,” he added.
The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has issued interim guidance on booster doses, expressing concern that mass vaccination programs for wealthy countries will exacerbate vaccine inequity.
Tedros reported that more people died from COVID-19 in 2021 than from HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined in 2020. This year, the coronavirus killed 3.5 million people and continues to take 50,000 lives each week.
