The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that people should remain on high alert, even if the general public may be tired of Covid-19.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the Paris Peace Forum that European countries are struggling but the virus has not changed significantly. The same could be said about the measures to stop it, the official added, urging vigilance.
More than 1.2 million people have died and economies around the world derailed during eleven months of the pandemic. The WHO chief said on Thursday that “a vaccine is needed urgently.” He also repeated a call for any vaccine to be shared fairly with poor countries.
The Paris Peace Forum, which is being held on Thursday and Friday, will address this issue, amid the spike in coronavirus cases around the world. Several states and foundations are set to pledge about $500 million for the ‘ACT-Accelerator,’ a mechanism aiming to ensure access to tests, treatments and vaccines for all nations, according to organizers of the event in the French capital.
The ACT-Accelerator mechanism, which is led by the WHO, was launched in April to boost research into the novel coronavirus. The project is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Union, France, Germany and others.
However, as France hosts the forum dedicated to finding ways to ease the consequences of the pandemic, the country itself shows no sign of relaxing restrictions to stop the spread of the pandemic.
Echoing the WHO chief’s call for vigilance, Prime Minister Jean Castex said that there were signs of a tapering in the Covid-19 figures in France, but “it is certainly not the moment to loosen the reins.”
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