© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A nurse prepares an injection for Jonathan Halter as the German embassy begins rolling out BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for German expatriates at a Beijing United Family hospital in Beijing, China, January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter /file photo
(Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency of international concern, its highest form of alert.
The pandemic was likely at a “transition point” that continues to need careful management to “mitigate potential negative consequences,” the agency added in a statement.
Three years have passed since the WHO first declared COVID a global health emergency. More than 6.8 million people have died during the outbreak, which has affected every country on Earth, devastating communities and economies.
However, the advent of vaccines and treatments has changed the pandemic situation considerably since 2020, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he hopes to see the end of the emergency this year, particularly if it can improve access to countermeasures. globally.
Advisers to the WHO expert committee on the state of the pandemic told Reuters in December that it was probably not the time to end the emergency given uncertainty over the wave of infections in China after it lifted its strict lockdown measures. zero-COVID by the end of 2022.
