WHO press conference on COVID-19, Ukraine and other global health issues - 13 April 2022
Member States. Dr Alvarez.
CA Thank you, Ana Maria. In Spanish. Good afternoon, Dr Tedros and Dr Michael Ryan and all here present. It’s an absolute pleasure to be here, to be able to share with you our experience and also to convey our gratitude to you for the support that we have received on behalf of the Government of Colombia and to be able to work on these clinical trials, both the clinical trials and medicines, in which we participated
00:00:36
FC Hello and welcome to WHO and today’s virtual press conference on COVID-19, Ukraine and other global health emergencies. I am Fadéla Chaib, working in the Department of Communications at WHO, Geneva. We have several WHO experts in the room and others joining remotely.
Let me introduce first the colleagues who are in the room, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Socé Fall, Assistant Director-General, Emergencies Response, and Dr Teresa Zakaria, Technical Officer in the Department of Health Emergencies Programme.
00:01:28
We have also in the room, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, who is our Chief Scientist, Dr Mariângela Simão, Assistant Director-General, Access to Medicines and Health Products. In the room also, Dr Abdi Mahamud, who is Incident Manager for COVID-19 in the Department of Health Emergencies Programme.
Joining online are Dr Kate O’Brien, Director in the Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals. We have also Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical Lead on COVID-19 and joining us also and welcoming him, Professor Didier Houssin, who is the Chair of the Emergency Committee on COVID-19.
As usual, we have the simultaneous interpretation in the six UN languages, Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Spanish and Russian, plus Portuguese and Hindi. Now, without further ado, I would like to hand over to Dr Tedros for his remarks. DG, you have the floor.
TAG Thank you. Thank you, Fadéla. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. On COVID-19, there is good news. Last week, the lowest number of COVID-19 deaths was recorded since the early days of the pandemic. However, some countries are still witnessing serious spikes in cases, which is putting pressure on hospitals and our ability to monitor trends is compromised as testing has significantly reduced.
This week, the COVID-19 IHR Emergency Committee met and unanimously agreed that the pandemic remains a public health emergency. I appreciated their advice and agree that far from being the time to drop our guard, this is the moment to work even harder to save lives.
00:03:43
Specifically, this means investing so that COVID-19 tools are equitably distributed and we simultaneously strengthen health systems as outlined in the 2022 WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. Bridging the vaccine equity gap is the best way to boost population immunity and insulate against future waves.
But, it’s not just vaccines. Over the past two years, WHO has continued to update its clinical management of COVID-19 guidelines and hone its recommendations based on the latest science. Treatments including oxygen, corticosteroids and antivirals are helping to further break the link between COVID-19 infection and death. Diagnostics are also improving and becoming more accessible.
However, just as I said last year, that trickle down vaccination is not an effective strategy for fighting a deadly respiratory virus, trickle-down treatment and testing are similarly reckless.
Diagnosing at-risk patients early enough for new antivirals to be effective is essential and should be available to everyone, everywhere. In addition, higher testing and sequencing rates will be vital for tracing existing and identifying new variants as they emerge.
00:05:19
WHO scientists continue to work with thousands of experts around the world to track and monitor the SARS-CoV-2 virus. At present, there are a number of Omicron sub-lineages we’re following closely, including BA.2, BA.4, BA.5 and another recombinant detected, made up of BA.1 and BA.2.
This virus has over time become more transmissible and it remains deadly especially for the unprotected and unvaccinated that don’t have access to healthcare and antivirals. The best way to protect yourself is to get vaccinated and boosted when recommended. Continue wearing masks, especially in crowded indoor spaces and, for the indoors, keep the air fresh by opening windows and doors, and invest in good ventilation.
Just as we continue to respond to the current pandemic, WHO is preparing for the next. I have spoken before about the need for a generational agreement that would ignite the investments, collaboration and engagement we need to protect our planet and our people.
Our Member States are currently negotiating this and WHO has opened up the conversation to the world through public hearings. I am encouraged by the rich diversity of people from around the world that raised their voices at the public hearing of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), which is tasked with developing a new instrument to prepare the world for future health threats.
Everyone has been affected by this pandemic and every voice matters. There will be further opportunities to engage in the process throughout the year. A new pandemic accord is our best collective defence against known viruses and of course the next disease X.
00:07:42
Tomorrow marks 50 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. In that time, 4.6 million refugees have left the country. Thousands of civilians have died, including children. There have been 119 verified attacks on healthcare. Health services continue to be severely disrupted, particularly in the East of the country.
For the sake of humanity, I urge Russia to come back to the table and to work for peace. In the meantime, humanitarian corridors must be established so that medical supplies, food and water can be delivered and civilians can move to safety. To date, WHO has received almost 53% of its funding requirement for Ukraine for the first three months.
I would like to thank Canada, Ireland, Japan, Norway, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Switzerland and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund for their timely contributions. I would also like to thank ECHO, Germany, Saudi Arabia, KSRelief and the United States for committing additional support to the health response in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. But additional resources will be required to cover longer-term needs.
In Tigray, it is now three weeks since a truce was called. After one of the longest blockades in history, there is a need for 100 trucks per day containing life-saving supplies to Tigray. Since the truce, there should have been at least 2,000 trucks going into Tigray but there has been only 20 trucks in total, representing 1% of the need.
00:09:53
In effect, the siege by the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces continues. To avert the humanitarian calamity and hundreds of thousands more people from dying, we need unfettered humanitarian access from those reinforcing the siege. As well as medicines, the immediate need is for food and fuel and other basic services to be allowed into the region.
On World Health Day last week, I wrote about the multidimensional crisis that humanity is facing. War, the climate crisis and COVID-19 are driving up food and fuel prices. The Horn of Africa and Sahel are at high risk of famine and many people are already starving or food insecure and increasingly on the move.
I am deeply concerned about the impact this will have not only on health but on overall national and regional security. Peace underscores our ability to make developmental progress on all fronts and conflict conversely makes it all harder.
Yesterday, WHO began the global roll out of an online training to increase understanding and promotion of the human rights and recovery of people living with mental health conditions. The course, available in 11 languages, has been completed by nearly 30,000 people, and our goal is that by the end of 2024, that number will be 5 million. There is no health without mental health.
I would now like to hand over to Professor Didier Houssin, Chair of the COVID-19 IHR Emergency Committee, for a few remarks. Professor Houssin, you have the floor.
00:12:15
DH Thank you very much. Merci beaucoup, Dr Tedros. I would like firstly to thank the members of the committee who, for two years, have been doing their best to give advice to the DG of the WHO. As you know, over the last few weeks the committee began to reflect on what could be the criteria for announcing the end of world health emergency and COVID-19, in this respect.
Now, we’re at the very line of decision and of course the situation, as the DG has said, is far from being over with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. The circulation of the virus is still very active, mortality remains high and the virus has been evolving in an unpredictable fashion.
So, before yesterday the decision was unanimously made that it is not yet the time to let our guard down, rather and this is a very strong recommendation that’s being made from the committee, Member States should rather use the 2022 plan that was just drafted by the WHO in order to strengthen preparedness and response. That plan should be used by Member States to immediately, with no delay, revise their national plans of actions, their policies and come up with a new response.
So, it’s not really a time to relax or let down one’s guard with regard to this virus. There should be no gaps in testing, reporting or surveillance. There should be no letting down of guards in social protection measures and neither should there be in vaccination. So, that’s what we believe, at least on our side, from the committee should be heard by Member States and I thank you very much for your kind attention.
00:14:28
TAG Thank you. Thank you, Professor Houssin. Thank you for your leadership. Fadéla, back to you.
FC Thank you, Professor Houssin. Thank you, Dr Tedros. Let me now open the floor to questions from the media. To get into the queue to ask a question, you need to raise your hand using the Raise Your Hand icon, and please do not forget to unmute yourself when it’s time. I would like now to invite Jérémie Lanche, from RFI, for the first question. Jérémie, you have the floor.
JL Thank you, Fadéla. Can you hear me?
FC Very well. Go ahead, please.
JL Thanks. My question would be in French, if I may, for Mr Houssin, if I may. Mr Houssin, I heard what you just said about the fact that we shouldn’t let our guards down. Now, what should we do to make sure that the decision of the committee is respected?
Do we need to have the contamination figures move, or do we need to have an end of this PHEIC or is it a question of monitoring, as has been mentioned? Would we be able to change from the state of pandemic if the number of new infections were to be reduced, for example? What exactly needs to happen? Thank you very much.
00:16:10
DH Thank you very much for this very important but also difficult question because it’s always easier to declare a pandemic than undeclare one, right? So, there are criteria but there’s probably a multi-criteria approach that should be used, a multi-pronged approach.
Of course, there are going to be epidemiological figures that need to be met but we also need to look at the response, how contamination or transmission continues and the ability to provide international assistance. Also there could be criteria from international exchange figures.
So, again, there are a number of different figures and what I want to say is that today we have not finished our work, we’ve not finished our reflection. We‘re actively meeting and I think we still have a few weeks ahead of us working with the WHO to come up with the final criteria. Thank you very much.
FC Thank you very much, Professor. Let’s now more to our second journalist, Daniel Payne, from Politico. Daniel, can you hear me?
DP Yes. Can you hear me?
FC Very well. Go ahead, please.
DP Excellent. I was wondering what the WHO knows about BA.4 and BA.5. I know there’s concern in South Africa about these subvariants and I just what information to you have about them.
00:17:51
FC Thank you, Daniel. Maria will take this question. Maria Van Kerkhove.
MK Thank you, Fadéla. Just checking that you can hear me okay. We are tracking a number of sublineages of Omicron, including BA.2, as you know of, BA.4 and BA.5. These two subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, have been reported from a number of countries, including South Africa but also some countries across Europe. There are very few sequences that are available so far. It is a sublineage of Omicron. It has similar characteristics but some that are different.
What we are looking at right now in terms of tracking any subvariants, including BA.4 and BA.5 are the same factors, transmissibility, is there any change, is there any change in severity? Are there any changes in our ability to defend against this including diagnostics, vaccines therapeutics?
There are less than 200 sequences that are available on GISAID so far. We expect that to change as more sequencing continues, which is why it is so important that we continue to monitor and track this virus as it changes. We don’t detect any changes in the epidemiology of people who are infected with BA.4 or BA.5 compared to previous sublineages of Omicron.
We’re tracking very closely trends in cases to see if there’s any uptick in case detection in terms of incidents but we haven’t really seen any change in that epidemiology, we have not seen a change in severity. But, again, this is why we need to have all of these experts around the world working with us to track this in real time.
00:19:36
I want to take a moment to thank, again scientists across South Africa, scientists across Europe, scientists across the world who are detecting this virus, first and foremost to ensure that patients get the care that they need so that they get into that clinical pathway and the receive the available treatments that are available to prevent people from dying from COVID-19, but also to share with us in real time the information about the viruses themselves, any studies that are underway, any analysis of the molecular epidemiology of the case incidence of hospitalisations and working with us to interpret.
So, these are ones to watch but again we have to do what we can to reduce severe disease but also to reduce the spread. Everyone here listening in, everybody out there has a role to play in trying to reduce the spread of this virus. Thanks, Fadéla.
FC Thank you. Dr Ryan.
MR Just to amplify one part of Maria’s excellent intervention. The virus continues to evolve. We simply cannot afford to lose sight of this virus. It’s really, really important. As the virus goes underground we need to track it because we don’t know what comes back.
Maria’s points are exceptionally important, not only for getting diagnostics to treat people but using diagnostics and sequencing to track this virus. It would be very, very, very short-sighted to assume that lower numbers of cases means an absolute lower risk.
00:21:11
We’re very pleased, as the DG said, to see the deaths dropping but this virus has surprised us before, this virus has caught us off guard before. We need to do our jobs and track this virus as best we can. While people get back to living as normal a life as possible, we in the scientific and public health community need to continue to track this virus closely in every single country.
FC Thank you, Dr Ryan. I would like now to call on Thomas Nguyen from VnExpress. I think you are calling us from Vietnam. Thomas?
TN Hi. Can you hear me?
FC Very well. Go ahead, please.
TN Thank you for taking my question. According to the plan given by the WHO about the third year when we want to respond to the pandemic more effectively, we have four scenarios. May I ask about the fourth one, about the reset one, when we have many changes in the virus itself. Thank you.
FC Thank you, Thomas. This question can be, I think, handled by Dr Maria Van Kerkhove. Maria, you have the floor.
MK I can start and others may want to come in. Thank you very much for the question. As you’ve pointed out, we have issued our latest Strategic Preparedness Readiness and Response Plan for COVID-19. This is the third plan that we have outlined at a global level of how to tackle this virus and how to bring an end to the emergency of COVID-19.
00:22:52
As we plan for the future, we need to adjust the strategy, recognising that countries are in very, very different situations and recognising that countries and people have different access to tools because we don’t have the equity and accessibility of life-saving tools around the world that we need.
In future planning, we have outlined three main scenarios, a base case, a best case and a worst case, outlining what we think will happen in terms of virus evolution and changes, and how our countermeasures will react to those. One of the scenarios, a fourth one that we’ve included in our SPRP, is what we call a reset. This is something where we need to plan for, where there may be enough of a change or so much change in the virus that essentially we have a population that is susceptible again and it resets us.
Now, this is not something that we consider as what might exactly happen but we have to plan for it. Scenarios are only as good as the preparations that you make to take those into account. What we expect, in terms of a future scenario, is our base case, and this is outlined in that document.
Essentially, what that says is that we expect the virus to continue to evolve. We will see further variants emerge but we do expect to see a continued reduction in severity and impact because there are tools that can save people’s lives, because we have increasing vaccination coverage, because we have increasing population-level immunity from past infection and vaccination.
00:24:36
We do expect in the future to see some kind of seasonality because it is a respiratory pathogen. Even though this virus affects all of the organs of the body, we expect to see some temporal patterns in our temperate regions but we do expect to see outbreaks flaring up where people are not protected.
We have tools that exist and our SPRP outlines how we respond going forward, taking the death and disease out of COVID-19 and also reducing transmission while getting people back to their daily lives, that we save livelihoods, as well.
The vaccines remain incredibly important in getting those who are most at risk in all countries because they continue to save lives but they can only save lives among the people who receive them. Scenarios are outlined in that document. They’re for planning purposes and they’re aimed to be helpful to countries to make sure that they are ready to handle any of those future events.
FC Thank you. Dr Swaminathan.
SS Thank you, Fadéla, and thank you very much for that question. I’d just like to make a couple of additional points and then perhaps ask Dr Ana Maria and Dr Carlos to reflect a little bit on the further research that’s going on and that will be needed for new vaccines because you mentioned the possibilities and the virial evolution that is happening.
We are seeing recombinants now. We are seeing the sublineages of Omicron. We expect to continue to see this and, as Maria was saying, we have to be prepared for the possibility that this virus might change so much that it’s able to evade existing immunity. There are approaches that scientists are obviously working on now to develop pan coronavirus vaccines and we can tell you a little bit more about what WHO is doing to support and coordinate those efforts.
00:26:32
The other point I’d like to make is about protecting populations. Again, we’ve said repeatedly that we have the tools now but the tools are only good if they’re used. When we look at coverage of vaccination across populations a couple of things stand out. One is that when you look at people over 60, whom we know are the most vulnerable, that there are still many countries where the coverage is very low.
In fact, we know that this population needs three doses to achieve optimal immune protection, so I think countries really must start looking at their data breakdown by age and sex. We also know the older populations are probably the hardest to reach because they’re not part of any regular immunisation programme, they may have issues of being to go to vaccine sites, etc.
So, we have to think about how we’re going to reach this older group because that’s where the mortality comes from. You need high levels of protection there and we can achieve that with three doses of vaccine and, in fact, COVAX has adequate supplies to provide to all countries to cover their entire risk population with three doses.
00:27:46
The second are the healthcare providers and unfortunately, again, we see in many countries, particularly in the low and low-middle-income countries that healthcare vaccination coverage is still not where it should be. We would like 100%, 100% for those over 60 and 100% for the frontline and healthcare workers who are at highest risk.
So, I think focusing on those vulnerable populations but also, of course, vaccinating adults and adolescents as laid out in our vaccination strategy is the way to reduce the impact of this virus against all of the existing variants of concern. We don’t know what the future will bring but I think that’s one way to prepare. On the R&D perhaps Ana Maria, you might want to come in and bring in Dr Carlos, as well.
AH Soumya, thank you very much. As Dr Swaminathan mentioned, we are working in three areas. The first, and Maria talked about this, is to continue to monitor the ability of the existing vaccines in preventing severe disease. That is the most important public health outcome we are monitoring. That includes not only looking at data from an observational status but also looking at new methodological approaches to evaluate existing vaccines.
The second part of our work is on developing research strategies to evaluate variant-specific vaccines, not only for Omicron but thinking in the future how we will evaluate new vaccines in the context of many people seropositive, already exposed to the vaccine or to the disease and in a context where perhaps placebo control trials cannot be done. So, WHO is working with experts all around the world developing these tools.
00:29:33
Number three, as it has been mentioned, it has been an ambition of many scientist and we believe after consultations with many of the scientists around the world that having a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine, a universal coronavirus vaccine, does perhaps help us not to chase each variant but to protect people from a wide variety of coronaviruses is a possibility. So, WHO has held consultations and we are working on plan with different experts all around the world to accelerate the evaluation and the development of such vaccines.
Part of our work is related to Dr Carlos Alvarez’s presence here today because here, in WHO, we do that with the ministries of health all around the world who are the co-sponsors of all of our trials. Dr Alvarez is the PI, the Principal Investigator in our trials of vaccines and a WHO expert in Colombia. So, perhaps Dr Alvarez would like to explain his experience as a PI for one of our since 2020 in the roll out and development of opportunities and new treatments to address COVID-19.
00:31:19
Now, we continue to participate in new alternatives, which hopefully will lead to a new medicine which will be effective. Also, our experiences in Colombia, with the roll out of clinical trials and vaccines, has allowed us to strengthen the alliances with different investigators from different cities across Colombia and work in teams, such as working with countries such as Philippines and Mali and others, to work with others in the WHO network of PIs to allow us to roll out studies and to continue to make progress in this research and development area, which will continue to strengthen the development of these clinical trials in Colombia. Thank you.
FC Thank you so much, Dr Carlos Alvarez Moreno and Ana Maria Henao. I would not like to give the floor to Fran Serrano, from Europa Press. Fran, can you hear me? Fran? We will come back to Fran later on. Now, I would like to call Sarah Newey, from The Telegraph. Sarah? Okay. I would like to invite Belisa Godinho, from W Magazine, to ask her question. Belisa, are you with us?
BG Hello.
FC Hi, Belisa.
BG Can you hear me?
FC Yes, very well. Go ahead, please.
BG Thank you very much for taking my question. Is there any current risk at the sites of contamination by toxic gases from the weapons used in the war in Ukraine at this time or during bomb attacks, the possibility of the escape of pathogens or even the output of some kind of nuclear energy by accident? Thank you very much.
00:33:45
MR Let me start. Teresa and Socé will join in. We’ve said this a number of times and in many different crises, that there’s always a risk that in conflict, especially in war, especially where there is poor targeting, that civilian infrastructure can become implicated in any conflict, therefore infrastructure associated with chemical production, infrastructure associated with radiation or nuclear energy production can become compromised.
We’ve seen in situations in the past that that can happen. So, there is always a higher risk that in a conflict ordinance and bombs can cause damage to infrastructure that may result in the release of chemicals or in the release of radiation and those risks are higher in Ukraine than in many other countries because it has very well established chemical industry network and a very well established nuclear industry.
So, there were always higher risks and we we’ve been warning of this and preparing for this in support of IAEA in terms of the Radiation Medicine Emergency Response Plan but also looking at the possibility of response to chemical incidents and we’ve been doing training and various other supports to the authorities in Ukraine in preparation for such an event.
This is very different than the intentional use of chemicals as a weapon in war, which is against international law and in, itself, is war crime. So, that’s a very different issue and maybe Dr Socé or Dr Teresa can speak to the specifics in Ukraine.
00:35:34
SF Thank you very much. As Dr Ryan has just said, since the beginning of the crisis we have looked a risk assessment which includes biological, chemical, nuclear, amongst others. We are working with a number of national and international partners in order to look at all the alerts, respiratory failures and vestibular ataxic syndrome.
We are working with teams on the ground to have a look at exactly what is happening and what the causes might be. Therefore, it is really important to really have a correct understanding of what is going on. What is the cause of the illness? What is the exact cause of the respiratory failure clusters? Thank you very much.
TZ Thank you, Mike and Socé. I think what is extremely important is that our key concern is really to look at the public health impact, that any event is reported. So, the alert system through various channels, including looking at information that is posted on local media, international media, and just really look at what public health impacts there are and whether there are sufficient capacities on the ground to actually address these impacts to make sure that we can prevent preventable deaths and suffering.
So, there have been many alerts, actually, that have come our way and we treat them all in the same way. We verify, we look at how many people are affected, what degree of health impact is happening at the individual level as well as at the population level and respond thereof.
00:37:30
For the latest information that we have received of an alleged incident, we are yet to quantify this to be able to provide the necessary response but then again our focus is really to make sure that we can intervene in the right way to prevent further suffering of the population.
MR May, I just add, in terms of our ongoing operations. Our operations to support the population of Ukraine continue with further distribution of trauma/emergency surgery kits, other critical supplies, further deployment of staff and emergency medical teams.
We have close to 100 staff on standby from the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network ready to deploy into Ukraine as needed and we continue to track, as Teresa said, signals of infectious disease. We certainly have one case of confirmed diphtheria in Ukraine which, again, is a deadly disease in individuals unless they’re treated properly, unless there is antitoxin available.
I believe Socé and the team have previously, with our colleagues in the European office, deployed antitoxins to Ukraine weeks ago in anticipation of cases of diphtheria. So, again, I think it demonstrates that an ounce of preparation is worth a ton of response in this case and we will continue to supply essential health needs in Ukraine.
We will continue to support the frontline health workers of Ukraine. They are the main bastion of support to the population. The health system in Ukraine has bent but it has not broken and there are thousands of heroes within the Ukrainian health system who have done miraculous work over the last number of weeks, absolutely outstanding, incredible frontline work.
00:39:23
It is our responsibility in WHO amongst all of the health partners, in GOARN, in the health cluster, in the UN system and in in our partners all around the world to continue to support these frontline workers who are saving hundreds of lives every single day.
FC Thank you, Dr Ryan. Let’s take a question from Sarah Newey who has some microphone issues, and she sent me her question. Just wanted to go back to the new variant. Maria and Mike talked about the threat of taking our eye of taking off this virus. As we talk about pandemic treaties, etc, this week do you worry that we are already dismantling some of the infrastructure built during COVID that could be used in the long-term? Do you think we are already forgetting lessons learned in an attempt to move on? Thank you. This is a question to Mike or to Maria.
MR I’ll begin, Maria, if you don’t mind. I think it’s a really, really pertinent question and that’s why the Director-General’s speech today is built around these two themes, of not letting our eye off the ball but at the same time understanding that we have a unique generational opportunity to fix things that have needed to be fixed for generations, and we need to be able to do those two things at the same time.
There is amnesia that sets in. We all know traumatic events lead to a desire to forget. We want to leave the trauma of these last two years behind us. Everyone has been affected by that but, as in life, you must address the issues that led to that trauma. You must address the weaknesses that led us to where we were if you’re going to avoid that in future.
00:41:09
So, when Dr Tedros talks about a generational agreement, a generational accord, he's talking about protecting our future but in order to protect our future we must also deal with the present. We must also deal with the threat we face right now. You’re right, as well, in that many of the things we’ve built, the clinical trials platforms, the democratisation of clinical trials, rapid clinical trials, being able to standardise those trials all over the world and collect that data is transformational. We can afford to lose that precious platform.
The ability to track the genetics of this virus, we’ve had a massive expansion of our capacity to do genetic surveillance. We can’t afford to lose that. We’ve had a huge increase in solidarity and transparency in the last year and sharing and Dr Tedros has spearheaded the need and the success in getting better and more equitable distribution of vaccines, but he also speaks to the growing inequity in antivirals. We cannot afford to lose those platforms.
So, yes, we are in danger of losing some of the precious infrastructure, the human workforce and the technological infrastructure that we’ve developed. We are definitely in danger of doing that and that’s why we need to invest for the future. An accord and a new system of governance and financing and a new commitment to the systems and tools we need for the future is absolutely vital but being able to do that and at the same time to not lose sight of this virus.
00:42:44
If we do the things right now that allow us to track the virus, if we do the things right now that allow us to treat patients earlier, if we do the things right now that allow us to vaccinate everyone. If we keep doing those things they’re the learnings that will lead us into a phase of profoundly better preparedness for the future. But, if we fail now on the last lap, if we fail to vaccinate everyone, if we fail to continue diagnosing, if we fail to find the people who can benefit from treatment then we will fail in future. We will fail in the next pandemic.
So, our success now will determine our success in future but planning for the future, some people are saying, well, why are we losing track now? We’re focusing on the future. We have to focus on the future. This pandemic is a warning shot to our civilisation. This was a very terrible event. The next one could be worse.
I hope it never happens but I don’t want the world to be in the same situation it was at the beginning of this pandemic at the beginning of the next, neither does Dr Tedros, and he’s trying to lead the world towards finishing this pandemic strongly and preparing for next one carefully.
FC Thank you, Dr Ryan. Maria Van Kerkhove would like to add something. Maria.
MK Thanks, Fadéla. I really don’t need to add anything after what Mike has said. He’s talked about both the importance of what we need to do now and in the future, as has Dr Tedros repeatedly. I only want to talk very briefly about the now and the question about our worry about dismantling systems.
00:44:18
Absolutely, we’re worried about that because of the investments that have been put in place for now and for the future. Where we see these systems work, lives are saved, economies are recovering. Where we see these systems being dismantled unnecessarily, lives are being lost and economies are suffering.
It’s clear, over and over again, in the countries where we see systems of surveillance and workforce and testing, clinical care, protected and respected health workforce, ensuring that we have the antivirals and the therapeutics in the countries to the people who need them, getting vaccines to those who are most effective, this is saving lives now. This is enforcing and reinforcing systems that are important for COVID and for the future.
This expansion of genomic surveillance and molecular epidemiology, the collaboration around the world, the expansion of even WHO being able to work with experts in all parts of the world in every country with Zoom, with all of these technical platforms, with solidarity and collaboration, this needs to be reinforced.
We do completely recognise the fatigue that everyone feels, as do we, and the desire to want this over but we cannot will it away and now is really one of the more difficult parts of this pandemic, three years in, where we want to move on to face and to deal with all of the other challenges that we are facing.
00:45:48
We cannot take our eye off the ball, so I fully endorse everything that has just been said and make sure that we, as WHO, support people to ensure that they keep themselves safe. This virus is circulating still at far too high of an intense level and we have tools that can save people lives now. We have to stay the course and really be vigilant to do what we can now and for the future.
FC Thank you, Dr Van Kerkhove. I would like now to invite our friend Simon Ateba, Today News Africa, Washington, to ask the next question. Simon, you have the floor.
SA Thank you for taking my question. This is Simon Ateba with Today News Africa in Washington. Dr Tedros, Dr Ryan and Dr Van Kerkhove, it was really great to finally meet you in person here, in Washington. I was delighted. Thank you so much for your work.
My question is can you please give us an update on vaccination in Africa right now? The last time Dr Tedros said 83% of people in Africa had not received a single shot of COVID-19 vaccine. What is the situation now? If you can give us an update on Tigray. The last time the DG said only 20 trucks had been allowed in, even after a humanitarian truce there. Thank you.
FC Thank you, Simon. Dr O’Brien, do you want to take this question or maybe Dr Swaminathan?
SS I can start and maybe then Kate can come in later if she’s there. Thank you for that question, Simon, and I’m glad you keep putting the spotlight on Africa. That’s where our focus is as well now for COVAX. As you all know, the supply situation is considerably better now than it was a few months ago and we are able to now supply as many doses as countries want on demand to them.
00:48:04
The issue now really is on delivery and this is why the vaccine delivery partnership was set up with all the partners coming together to try and work with the ministries of health on the ground to lay out a detailed plan for vaccination and to address the many logistical and other issues, financial issues, training issues, risk communication, community engagement, all of the things that need to happen when you have to have such a mass adult vaccination programme that normally doesn’t exist in countries.
So, the delivery partnership has identified a subset of 35 countries that were farthest behind and the first things that were done was really sit down with each country and have a plan. It’s really good to see that the majority of countries actually do plan to vaccinate 70% of their populations, which is adult and adolescent groups, by the end of this year.
There are only a handful of countries that have set their goal at less than 40% and we hope that will be revised. Obviously, many of these countries have competing health priorities and so we need to make sure that as COVID vaccine uptake is expanded, scaled up, strengthened, that routine immunisation services are also strengthened, that essential health services also continue to operate.
00:49:31
So, the delivery partnership is really looking to assist countries, both with financial support and technical support, and so we’ve seen progress. We’re seen in a few countries in Africa a rapid increase in the speed at which the vaccination is happening, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, a few others. We’ve seen rapid uptake, so we’re quite optimistic now that in the coming months, that these countries will really begin to show progress.
Again, we’re trying to focus on the vulnerable groups first . That’s always been WHO’s prioritisation, to protect them, but I think that progress is being made and the DG and the heads of UNICEF and Gavi are routinely, regularly getting updates from the delivery partnership and really reaching out to the political leadership as well, because it’s really key and it all starts with the political leadership and the commitment and then goes all the way down into the more practical details of delivery. If Kate is there maybe she can add more specific numbers but we can provide that to you later.
MR If I could just add one metric I think that is important because I’ve had people say to me, well, if 20% or 30% of the population in Africa is covered, surely that’s enough, because they’re the vulnerable. Well, the fact is that over seven out of ten older persons over 60 around the world are vaccinated. That’s less than 25 in Africa. So, in effect, less than one in four persons over 60 in Africa is protected with vaccines, which leaves a huge gap.
It’s not just an absolute numbers game. There’s a huge gap in the vaccination of the vulnerable as well and therefore pushing towards the 70% and then within that 70% targeting and prioritising those most vulnerable people with underlying conditions, immunosuppression, people of older age group.
00:51:31
So, the inequity is not just in the overall distribution of vaccines, the inequity is occurring also within countries in terms of not reaching those most likely to benefit from the vaccine and that’s particularly acute and, again, from an African perspective, that’s the lowest number. In Europe, 85% of over 60s are fully vaccinated and that number is in stark contrast to 25% of over 60s in Africa.
FC Thank you. Dr Socé, on the question about Tigray?
SF Thank you. I think it was highlighted by Dr Tedros in the opening statement. We only have recorded 20 trucks of humanitarian supply since the so-called truce and we were expecting up to 2,000 trucks, meaning that only 1% of the needs are covered since that time. But, if you look at the situation, it’s not only about medical supply. We are talking about food supply. Out of the 5.2 million people in critical need of food supply, only 1.2 million have been reached.
Now, we are also talking about fuel. Humanitarian workers in Tigray are not having access to fuel. Only 8% of the cash needs also since July last year have been covered. People are really suffering from all sides and you are seeing more people dying from common diseases, as we said, since the beginning and the situation is really deteriorating. We need more, actually we need full access to Tigray for all pillars, health, protection, nutrition and to make sure that we can save the lives of people who have survived so far. I think this is really, really bad.
00:53:35
TAG Thank you. Thank you very much. Simon, it was also nice meeting you in person, in DC, and thank you so much for your regular attendance to our pressers. We really value that, as you’re the eyes and ears of the public. On Tigray, I said it in my statement also. As you rightly said, it’s 20 trucks since the truce and I also said the UN estimate for Tigray is 100 trucks per day required and this is the minimum. So, by now, in the last three weeks there should have been 2,000 trucks actually already that could have arrived in Tigray.
But, not only since the truce, maybe you will be alarmed if you see since December this is the first 20 trucks and since December, four months, not more than 12,000 trucks but only 20 trucks. And, as we speak, people are dying of starvation, dying because they have no food.
It’s very serious and I repeat what I said earlier. This is one of the longest and worst sieges by both Eritrean and Ethiopian forces in modern history and its impact, I think anybody can understand. Of course, it’s important that there is engagement to resolve this peacefully, that’s very important, but I am also worried at the same time that these 20 trucks could be just a diplomatic manoeuvre, I’m sorry to say that. It could be.
Because if there is commitment, if there is truce then, as agreed, 100 trucks should make their way every day. I don’t think there is any reason to believe because there are some who say, oh, because of security reasons we couldn’t send. But in many conflict areas, in the middle of the conflict, we’re sending supplies.
00:56:15
We’re sending supplies and conflict cannot be an excuse. Humanitarian support is given at all times and I say the security issue which is being raised is an excuse and food and other supplies, medicine, should be available as humanitarian support at all times and that, I think, has to be the standard if we are to save lives.
And the focus, maybe you may ask why food? I don’t think people will need medicine before food. They will need food to survive and then, of course, they will need medicine. That’s why the two are not separate. Probably food is medicine and people would starve to death even if you have medicine but at the same time, although there are some trickles of medicine reaching the region, that’s also under blockade.
And I said it last time, 46,000 people living with HIV, we don’t know where they are. No programme and many of them you would assume that they have already died. But I think some people have said it earlier. I don’t know if the world really gives equal attention to black and white lives.
I said it last week. The whole attention to Ukraine is very important, of course, because it impacts the whole world but even a fraction of it is not being given to Tigray, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and the rest, a fraction. And I need to be blunt and honest, that the world is not treating the human race the same way. Some are more equal than others.
00:58:36
When I say this, it pains me because I see it. It is very difficult to accept but it’s happening. Thank you, Simon, again for your question but I hope the world comes back to its senses and treats all human life equality. What’s happening in Ethiopia is a tragic situation. People are being burned alive. I don’t know if that was even taken seriously by the media because of their ethnicity but nothing else, without any crime. So, we need to balance, we need to take every life seriously because every life is precious. Thank you, Fadéla, and back to you.
FC Thank you, all, for your participation, journalists and WHO experts. We will be sending the audio file and Dr Tedros’s remarks right after the press conference. The full transcript will be posted on the WHO website tomorrow morning. If you have any follow-up questions, please don’t hesitate to send an email to mediainquiries@who.int. Over to you, Dr Tedros, if you want to say goodbye.
TAG Thank you, yes. Maybe before saying goodbye, I would like to add one thing also. As you know we are still in the middle of the pandemic. I also think there is good news, though, even if we are in the middle of the pandemic. The good news is we have, in the last few weeks, the lowest number of deaths and that’s important but, at the same time, as Mike was also saying, we shouldn’t let our guards down.
01:00:49
All the public health measures, I think based on local situations, we have to continue to observe them. At the same time, while fighting this pandemic and fighting to end it, we have to also prepare for the future. That’s why the INB, the Intergovernmental Body’s work is very, very important.
As Mike said we call it a generational agreement or a treaty or instrument because, as everybody knows, there were many, many challenges and there are still many challenges during this pandemic and they cannot be addressed in future similar situations unless we address these challenges through an accord or treaty or instrument.
The lessons learned should really lead into a compact for the world to do, meaning preparing for the future to address these problems. Otherwise, if we wait until the pandemic is over, as you know, we may lose the momentum and we shouldn’t lose the momentum.
While we have the momentum, while the situation is fresh in our memory, while we are still in the middle of it, I think we have to build the future. That’s why, also, we have to do it at the same time with full participation of the whole world because it has affected everyone and every voice is very important.
That’s why yesterday we started a public hearing and we want the whole world to participate, to contribute what we should change to prepare for the future based on the lessons that we have learned. The next hearing will be, I think, 16-17 April and we invite you to participate also in that hearing and give us your advice so that we will have the best agreement that can address the challenges we are facing now so our world could be prepared better.
01:03:33
We don’t need this kind of agony and pain in the future and to prevent it we have to start preparing right now. Everyone has gone through it more than two years. The whole world has been taken hostage and I don’t think anyone wants a repeat of that. That’s why, while fighting this one, we prepare for the next one, so we prevent similar agony and pain of the whole world. Thank you and thank you so much again for joining us, to the press, and look forward to seeing you next time. Bye-bye.