Will the pandemic end this year? WHO on how 2022 could see the end of Covid

As we enter the third year of the pandemic, the WHO have given predictions on whether it could end in 2022.
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It has been a long almost three years of Covid-19, with 2019 and ‘normal times’ seeming like a lifetime ago.

Covid restrictions and the pandemic in general continues to affect nearly every aspect of our lives but we are better equipped and informed than in 2020.

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Will the pandemic end in 2022? The World Health Organisation (WHO) think so, but there’s a caveat, countries must all work together.

Writing on the WHO website, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, said: “While no country is out of the woods from the pandemic, we have many new tools to prevent and treat COVID-19. More than 8.5 billion doses of vaccine have been administered globally, saving millions of lives.

“New treatments have been developed, which should dramatically increase access and lower mortality. But narrow nationalism and vaccine hoarding by some countries have undermined equity, and created the ideal conditions for the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Could the pandemic end in 2022? Picture: ShutterstockCould the pandemic end in 2022? Picture: Shutterstock
Could the pandemic end in 2022? Picture: Shutterstock

“And the longer inequity continues, the higher the risks of this virus evolving in ways we can’t prevent or predict. If we end inequity, we end the pandemic.”

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In December 2020 a coalition of campaigning bodies warned that people living in poor countries are likely to miss out on the Covid-19 vaccine due to rich countries “hoarding” doses of the injections.

The alliance, which includes organisations such as Oxfam and Amnesty International, said that 67 poorer countries around the world will only be able to vaccinate one in 10 people against the virus in 2021.

How to ‘work together’: Mr Ghebreyesus explained that all countries need to work together to reach the global target of vaccinating 70 per cent of people by the middle of 2022. To do this, governments need to ‘continue using tailored public health and social measures, including testing, sequencing and reporting of variants by all countries, without fear of punitive measures.”

He added: “All of us need to play our part, with masks, distancing, avoiding crowds, meeting outside when possible or in a well-ventilated space indoors. COVID-19 has demonstrated that when health is at risk, everything is at risk. “

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