Covid-19. WHO calls for vaccine not to be expected to control pandemic – Observer

The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Monday not to wait for the Covid-19 vaccine to control the pandemic, noting that in Europe there are more new cases daily than in March, but fewer deaths.

Speaking at a session of the WHO committee for Europe, the director-general of the United Nations agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that “if the contagions are not controlled, more people will die” and more “the real risk” of having to return to the most restrictive measures in societies.

Until there is a vaccine for the disease, countries can “use existing tools” to control contacts, “Preventing amplifying events” from contagions, such as large gatherings, and safeguarding “the most vulnerable”.

When there is a vaccine, it must be accessible to all countries equally, he reiterated, stating that “in an interconnected world”, if citizens of poorer countries are excluded from vaccination, “the virus will continue to kill and the global economic recovery will take longer”.

Ghebreyesus also defended that only with robust national health systems can pandemics be faced, considering that this is “one of the most painful lessons” of Covid-19.

He considered that investment in public health can be equated with military expenditure to guarantee the security of nations.

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