‘Acute phase’ of Covid-19 pandemic expected to end in June- Tedros during SA visit

By the middle of this year the world could see an end to the ‘acute phase’ of the Covid-19 pandemic if around 70% of the world gets vaccinated, according to Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Over the weekend, the WHO head visited the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in Cape Town with Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, and Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Buti Manamela.

“Our expectation is that the acute phase of this pandemic will end this year. Of course, with one condition that 70% of people are vaccinated by the middle of this year, around June or July,” he said during a media briefing.

Statistics from Our World in Data reveal that around 62% of the world population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, however, only 11% of people in low-income countries have received one jab.

“More than half the world’s population is now fully vaccinated. And yet 84% of the population of Africa is yet to receive a single dose. One of the most obvious lessons of the pandemic, therefore, is the urgent need to increase local production of vaccines, especially in low- and middle-income countries,” he said.