The UN could have been forgiven for saying ‘I told you so’ when it became clear in November that a fast-spreading COVID-19 variant, named after the Greek letter Omicron, was a cause for concern, seemingly spreading far more quickly than the dominant Delta variant. But whilst the fears were understandable, the arrival of Omicron shouldn’t have been a surprise, given… Read More

“It also revealed our failure to learn the lessons of recent health emergencies like SARS, avian influenza, Zika, Ebola and others”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message. “And it reminded us that the world remains woefully unprepared to stop localized outbreaks from spilling across borders, and spiraling into a global pandemic”. Halting infectious diseases Noting that infectious diseases remain… Read More

The funding, announced on Thursday, will support the UN agency’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, part of its broader One Health programme . The initiative helps safeguard human, animal, plant and environmental health throughout the food chain, from production to consumption and waste management.  FAO joins with partners the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE),… Read More

That message from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Eastern Mediterranean region, indicated that the pandemic is far from over, wherever you may live.  Citing the latest modelling data, Ahmed Al-Mandhari said that 22 countries and territories in the region would probably see more than 17 million cases and over 314,000 deaths by the end of the year.  Despite the holiday season, “failure… Read More

“No country can boost its way out of the pandemic,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking in Geneva during his final press briefing for the year.  “And boosters cannot be seen as a ticket to go ahead with planned celebrations, without the need for other precautions,” he added.  Diverting vaccine supply  The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on… Read More

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at WHO Headquarters in Geneva that it was also more likely that people who have been vaccinated, or recovered from the virus, could be infected, or reinfected. Omicron is a variant of the virus that causes #COVID19. To protect yourself and others: 💉 Get vaccinated as soon as it’s your turn😷 #WearAMask↔️ Keep physical distance and… Read More

The vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India, under licence from Novavax, and will now be part of the COVAX facility portfolio, boosting efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries.  WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr. Mariângela Simão, said that “even with new variants emerging, vaccines remain one of the most effective tools to protect people against serious illness and death from SARS-COV-2.”  She said WHO… Read More

“When COVID-19 community transmission increases and stringent public health measures become a necessity, schools must be the last places to close and the first to re-open”, argued Henrietta Fore. The new cases are being fuelled, increasingly, by Omicron; the new variant of concern that public health experts and scientists are working hard to understand and assess. Amid rising uncertainty, many governments are weighing… Read More