While the World Health Organization advocates action, the British government refuses to reintroduce them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging countries to continue rigorously testing people for the virus after easing protective measures against the coronavirus. “The pandemic is certainly not over yet,” Kate O’Brien, director of the WHO’s immunization department, said Monday in Geneva. New virus variants may continue to develop. The easing has led to new waves of infection, O’Brien said.
This is not always immediately clear because in many countries there are now significantly fewer tests. She called on governments to carefully relax protective measures while monitoring the death toll. In 20 countries around the world, less than ten percent of the population is vaccinated against the corona virus. Most of them are in Africa, O’Brien said after a meeting of the independent expert council that advises the WHO on vaccination issues. This is no longer due to the meager supply of vaccines. Countries worked to expand their immunization programs. In January, 34 countries vaccinated less than ten percent of the population.
British against reintroduction
Meanwhile, the British government is rejecting the reintroduction of corona measures – despite clear demands from the healthcare system and the high number of infections. “There are no changes to our guidelines and our plan to ‘live with Covid’ still stands,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Monday. Thanks to vaccines and better treatment options, dealing with the virus is now easier.
The NHS Confederation, in which a number of English health service clinics are organised, had previously asked the government to call on the population to wear masks and gather outdoors again. The health service suffers from high absenteeism due to corona infections, currently around 20,000 Covid patients and a high load in emergency rooms. “The brutal truth is that this Easter is as bad for the health service as any winter,” said NHS Confederation head Matthew Taylor.
Boris Johnson’s Conservative government suspended almost all corona measures in England a few months ago. Data on the pandemic is becoming increasingly scarce in light of reduced testing capabilities. However, according to the National Statistics Office’s weekly estimate, one in 13 people in England was infected with the coronavirus at the end of last week. This survey, based on regular testing of a randomly selected sample, is currently considered the most reliable statistic about the pandemic.
Second booster?
The WHO Council is also currently grappling with the question of how great is the benefit of a second booster vaccination against the corona virus. The data is still not enough to make a recommendation, he said. Countries should primarily focus on giving as many people as possible a basic corona vaccination before considering a general expansion of booster programs.
(APA)