The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the Covid-19 pandemic is not going to disappear anytime soon.

This comes as the latest variant, the highly transmissible Omicron strain has caused a spike in new infections across the globe.

Said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday:

“This pandemic is nowhere near over.

“Omicron may be less severe, on average, but the narrative that it is a mild disease is misleading.”

WHO has accelerated its vaccination drive through the COVAX facility.

On 15 January 2022, a shipment of 1.1 million COVID-19 vaccines to Rwanda included the billionth dose supplied via COVAX.

Together with our partners, COVAX is leading the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history, with deliveries to 144 countries to date.

But the work that has gone into this milestone is only a reminder of the work that remains.

As of 13 January 2022, out of 194 Member States, 36 WHO Member States have vaccinated less than 10% of their population, and 88 less than 40%.

COVAX’s ambition was compromised by hoarding/stockpiling in rich countries, catastrophic outbreaks leading to borders and supply being locked. And a lack of sharing of licenses, technology and know how by pharmaceutical companies meant manufacturing capacity went unused.

COVAX is working with governments, manufacturers and partners to ensure that when countries receive vaccines they can get them to people quickly.

With updated vaccines in the pipeline, now is the moment for all citizens to demand that governments & pharmaceutical companies share health tools globally & bring an end to the death & destruction cycles of this pandemic, limit new variants and drive a global economic recovery.