OREANDA-NEWS The coronavirus pandemic is at a critical stage, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO). However, according to him, the pandemic may end this year if the necessary comprehensive measures will be taken.

«We must work together to bring the acute phase of this pandemic to an end. We cannot allow it to continue to drag on, slipping into panic or neglect», Ghebreyesus said. He believes that the world has all the tools to defeat the pandemic, but they should be used fairly and wisely.

Ghebreyesus recalled that a billion doses of vaccines have already been delivered under the COVAX vaccine fair distribution program, but the vaccination rates in all countries are still far from ideal. Thus, 34 countries have not yet been able to immunize 10% of their population, and in 86 countries less than 40% have been vaccinated.

Earlier, a WHO representative said that the «omicron» strain could be the last in the history of the confrontation between humanity and the coronavirus. This was announced on Sunday, January 23, by WHO Director for the European region Hans Kluge in an interview with AFP.