High vaccination rates can help to reduce variants’ risk: WHO

WHO’s emergencies chief says that ultimately, ‘high levels of vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic’

A top World Health Organisation official estimated Monday that Covid-19 vaccination coverage of at least 80% is needed to significantly lower the risk that ‘imported’ novel Coronavirus cases like those linked to new variants could spawn a cluster or a wider outbreak.

Dr Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergencies chief, told a news conference that ultimately, “high levels of vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic.” Many rich countries have been moving to vaccinate teenagers and children who have a lower risk of more dangerous cases of Covid-19 than the elderly or people with comorbidities, even as those countries face pressure to share vaccines with poorer ones that lack them. Britain, which has vastly reduced case counts thanks to an aggressive vaccination, has seen a recent uptick in cases attributed largely to the delta variant.

Ryan acknowledged data wasn’t fully clear about what percentage of vaccination coverage was necessary to fully impact transmission. “But ... it’s certainly north of 80% coverage to be in a position where you could be significantly affecting the risk of an imported case potentially generating secondary cases or causing a cluster or an outbreak,” he said. “So it does require quite high levels of vaccination, particularly in the context of more transmissible variants, to be on the safe side,” Ryan added.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on leaders of developed G7 countries to help the UN-backed vaccination programme against Covid-19 to boost access to doses in the developing world.

WTO considers easing protections

 Envoys from World Trade Organisation member nations are taking up a proposal to ease patents and other intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines to help developing countries fight the pandemic, an idea backed by the Biden administration but opposed in other wealthy countries with strong pharmaceutical industries. On the table for a two-day meeting of a WTO panel opening, Tuesday is a revised proposal presented by India and South Africa for a temporary IP waiver on coronavirus vaccines. The idea has drawn support from more than 60 countries, which include the US and China.

Also Read: Lockdown effect: Civic complaints down by 27 per cent in Mumbai

26,61,11
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

17,32,71,769
Total no. of cases worldwide

37,33,980
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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