Agence France-Presse
HINDI makatotohanan kung iisipin na mawawakasan ng mundo ang COVID-19 pandemic sa pagtatapos ng taon, paalala ng World Health Organization nitong Lunes.
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Gayunman, sinabi ni WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan na posibleng maiwasan ng trahedya sa coronavirus crisis sa pamamagitan ng pagbabawas ng hospitalisasyon at pagkamatay.
Ngunit mananatili ang kontrol ng virus, aniya, lalo na’t muling tumaas ang bilang ng bagong kaso sa mundo nitong nakaraang linggo matapos ang anim na linggong pagbaba.
“It will be very premature, and I think unrealistic, to think that we’re going to finish with this virus by the end of the year,” pahayag ni Ryan.
“But I think what we can finish with, if we’re smart, is the hospitalisations, the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic.”
Ani Ryan, ang pagbibigay ng bakuna sa mga front-line health care workers at pinaka vulnerable sa malalang sakit “would take the fear… out of the pandemic.”
Ngunit hindi dapat, aniya, balewalain ang naging pagbabago kamakailan at “right now the virus is very much in control”.
Pagbabahagi ni WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tumaas ang bilang ng bagong kaso nitong nakaraang linggo sa Europe, Americas, southeast Asia at eastern Mediterranean.
“This is disappointing, but not surprising,” aniya.
“Some of it appears to be due to relaxing of public health measures, continued circulation of variants, and people letting down their guard.
“Vaccines will help to save lives, but if countries rely solely on vaccines, they’re making a mistake. Basic public health measures remain the foundation of the response.”
Dagdag naman ni Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO COVID-19 technical lead: “If the last week tells us anything, it’s that this virus will rebound if we let it — and we cannot let it.”
Nais ni Tedros na masimulan ang COVID-19 vaccination sa bawat bansa sa unang 100 araw ng 2021 —nangangahulugan na may 40 araw na lamang nalalabi.
Ibinahagi niya nitong Lunes ang unang pagtuturok ng doses na dinala sa pamamagitan ng global Covax vaccine-sharing facility, na ibinigay sa Ghana at Ivory Coast.
“It’s encouraging to see health workers in lower-income countries starting to be vaccinated, but it’s regrettable that this comes almost three months after some of the wealthiest countries started their vaccination campaigns,” saad pa ni Tedros.
“And it’s regrettable that some countries continue to prioritise vaccinating younger, healthier adults at lower risk of disease in their own populations ahead of health workers and older people elsewhere,” pagsisiwalat niya, nang hindi nagbabanggit ng pangalan.
Dagdag pang 11 million vaccine doses ang nakatakdang i-deliver sa mga bansa ngayong linggo sa tulong ng Covax programme, kung saan ang 237 million doses ay ilalaan sa 142 kalahok na ekonomiya sa pagitan ng ngayon at sa pagtatapos ng Mayo.
Ilalabas ang final allocation breakdown para sa unang bugso ng Covax doses ngayong Miyerkules.
Sa usapin naman ng nosyon ng COVID-19 vaccine passports bilang patunay na naturukan na ang biyahero, sinabi ni Ryan na sa kawalan ng universal access sa bakuna, “there are serious human rights and ethical issues regarding the application of restrictions on travel on that basis”.
Gayunman, habang lumalawak ang naaabot ng doses, “clearly there will need to be considerations around how public health measures… can be adapted,” aniya.
