Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic won’t be over until 70 per cent of global population vaccinated: WHO
- WHO Europe director Hans Kluge also said that one of his main worries was the increased contagiousness of new variants of the coronavirus
- He stressed that a speedy roll-out of vaccines was of the utmost importance
Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
The WHO’s European director warned on Friday that the Covid-19 pandemic won’t be over until at least 70 per cent of people are vaccinated, while deploring that the vaccine roll-out in Europe is still “too slow”.
“The pandemic will be over once we reach 70 per cent minimum coverage in vaccination,” the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said.
Kluge also said that one of his main worries was the increased contagiousness of new variants of the novel coronavirus.
“We know for example that the B. 1617 (Indian variant) is more transmissible than the B. 117 (British variant), which already was more transmissible than the previous strain,” Kluge said.
Advertisement
According to the Belgian doctor, speed is “of essence” in pandemic.
“Even when WHO declared a pandemic, many countries were still waiting, we lost valuable time.”
Advertisement
While the regional director, who has held the position since February 2020, lauded calls for solidarity he stressed that a speedy roll-out of vaccines was of the utmost importance.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x