WHO: It’s unrealistic to expect COVID-19 pandemic to end this year

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it unrealistic to expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will end in 2021.

Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s health emergencies programme, said this at a news conference on Tuesday.

Ryan said the WHO’s focus at present was to keep transmissions as low as possible and vaccinate more people.

“I think it will be very premature and unrealistic to think that we are going to finish with this virus by the end of the year,” he said.

“What we can finish with – if we are smart – is hospitalisations, deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic.”

He said the delivery of vaccine doses has improved compared to 10 weeks ago, but noted that there are “huge challenges” in distributing them.

“If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and hospitalisation, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate toward controlling this pandemic,” he added.