Ten to eleven thousand people will die today from COVID-19, and 420 will die before this press conference is over: This was emphasized by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director General of the World Health Organization, at Monday’s weekly session. Even though this is the seventh straight week that new daily cases in the world have declined, deaths have not subsided. Since vaccines have proven their worth, their deployment done properly can save many lives. “There are enough doses of vaccines globally to drive down transmission and save many lives if they’re used in the right places for the right people. Health workers and those most at risk must be given priority over those at low risk.” The evidence shows that leaving the at-risk exposed, while vaccinating those not at risk, simply creates the conditions for the sort of new variants to infect the previously vaccinated. “Right now, the virus is moving faster than the global distribution of vaccines.”
He cited a Lancet study to say: “Africa has the highest global mortality rate among critically ill COVID-19 patients, despite having fewer reported cases than most other regions.” Clearly, the cases that make it to hospitals are more severe, the overall health conditions are not as good, and the therapeutics and ventilators are more limited. Therapeutics, PPE, oxygen, and vaccines are needed now, not when it is easy to do so.
