The Director General of the WHO stated that no country can end the COVID-19 pandemic in isolation from the rest of the world.
Experts have repeatedly encouraged the public to take the COVID-19 vaccines. As asserted, vaccination is the key to ending the pandemic.
However, the world has yet to inoculate the majority of the population. Only a few countries have already succeeded, while the rest are still continuing the race.
This is one of the factors why the end of the global crisis remains unknown. Some experts and officials estimate, though, that the pandemic may conclude next year. But, as for others, the answer is quite complicated.
During the World Health Summit (WHS), the Director General of the World Health Organization shared some of his thoughts about the matter. Reuters released a report concerning the event, as per Mint.
The end of the COVID-19 pandemic
On Sunday, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the WHO delivered his address to the WHS in Germany. He said that he “most often” receives the question about the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his answers, the health official explained that it will only end “when the world chooses” to do so. This is because “it is in our hands,” adding that “we have all the tools” necessary to bring the crisis to an end.
“One of the questions I am asked most often is: when will this pandemic end?
My answer is that the #COVID19 pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it. It is in our hands”-@DrTedros #WHS2021
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 24, 2021
The WHO chief noted that these include both “effective” public health and medical tools. But, despite having these, he stated that the “world has used” them well. Accordingly, “the pandemic is far from over.”
Nevertheless, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that it will conclude when all nations start using these tools. He also added that no country can end it in isolation.
Dependent on “human behaviour,” CDC said
The Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a similar response about the matter. Dr. Rochelle Walensky cannot predict when the COVID-19 pandemic will end, according to CNBC.
In a Health Coverage Fellowship session on Thursday, the official told reporters that ending the global crisis depends on one thing. She stated that it is “human behaviour,” and this is where the problem likely lies.
She explained that the world has vaccines against COVID-19, adding that “a lot of the science” is apparent. However, what makes it all unpredictable is the behaviour of humans.
The CDC head claimed that “human behaviour in this pandemic has not served us well.” She also asserted that the public is “battling with one another” instead of battling with COVID-19, which is the “common foe.”
Images (1) & (2) courtesy of World Health Organization (WHO)/YouTube