On Monday, January 30, at a meeting of the WHO Emergency Committee on COVID-19, they decided to continue the pandemic, which has been going on for three years, because it has not ceased to be a “global threat”.
Elimination of the virus is unlikely
After weighing all the pros and cons, WHO experts recalled the successes in the fight against coronavirus, but admitted that it was too early to talk about the end of the pandemic. This decision was influenced, in particular, by the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, which occurred after the country lifted most of the quarantine measures.
The organization noted that in three years the coronavirus claimed 6.8 million lives, but the emergence of vaccines and effective treatments has significantly changed the situation, so we can hope for an end to the emergency this year. The pandemic has reached a turning point, but it remains a public health emergency and no one should let their guard down. But the world may soon move into a new phase, in which hospitalizations for coronavirus patients will be reduced, and mortality will be at the lowest possible level.
“Now, entering the fourth year of the pandemic, we are certainly in a better position than a year ago, when the omicron wave of infections peaked and more than 70,000 deaths were reported to the WHO every week. When we last met in October, the number of weekly deaths recorded was almost the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic – less than 10 thousand per week, but since the beginning of December, the weekly death rate in the world began to rise, in addition, the lifting of restrictions in China led to a surge in deaths in the world’s densely populated country. Last week, the WHO received a report of almost 40,000 deaths, more than half of which occurred in China. In total, more than 170,000 deaths have been recorded in the past eight weeks. The real number, of course, is much higher,” WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said.
He drew attention to the fact that vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics play a critical role in preventing the development of serious diseases, saving lives and alleviating the burden on health systems and medical workers. However, global response efforts continue to run into obstacles, as in many countries these powerful life-saving tools are still not reaching the largest and most vulnerable populations, including older people.
Meanwhile, the WHO Advisory Committee said there is no doubt that this virus will remain a persistent pathogen in humans and animals for the foreseeable future, even though higher levels of immunity from infection or vaccination may limit its impact on disease and death.
“Elimination of this virus from human and animal reservoirs is unlikely, and mitigation of its devastating impact on morbidity and mortality is achievable and should remain a priority goal,” the committee said. And reminded of the need for vaccination against COVID-19.
Part of seasonal diseases
Meanwhile, the immunization campaign against COVID-19 continues in Ukraine, there are no problems with vaccines.
“Ukraine continues to receive the vaccine free of charge under the COVAX mechanism (a global initiative aimed at equal access to vaccines against COVID-19, led by UNICEF – ed.) throughout 2023 and 2024. There is no such confirmation for 2025-2026, but There are potentially opportunities for extending such guarantees by COVAX,” Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Igor Kuzin said at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Center – Ukrinform.
According to him, COVID-19 is gradually becoming part of seasonal influenza and SARS epidemics, which are recorded annually in every country. Therefore, most likely, in the next epidemiological season in the fall or winter of 2023, COVID-19 may become part of the respiratory viruses.
The Deputy Minister also noted that, possibly, subsequently, the coronavirus infection will be included in the flu vaccine, which is annually imported by each country before the start of the epidemic season. Such a vaccine is likely to be commercial, with the exception of its purchase or receipt as humanitarian aid to vaccinate critical infrastructure workers.
According to the press service of the Public Health Center, there are still many people in Ukraine, including those from risk groups, who have not yet completed the full course of vaccination. Some of them are due to difficulties in getting to vaccination centers. These are, in particular, elderly people living in remote villages. These are the people targeted by mobile vaccination teams that have been created and are working in eight regions with the support of the Public Union “Coalition for Vaccination” as part of the USAID project “Development of a sustainable public health system.” They visit and vaccinate everyone in Kyiv, Odessa, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Vinnitsa, Ternopil, Zhytomyr and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. During the first two weeks of the work of these teams, doctors managed to vaccinate 349 people against COVID-19, of which 175 were people over 60 years old.
And on January 24, 2023, it became known about the first case of the disease detected in Ukraine with a subspecies of the Omicron strain, which is called Kraken and is rapidly spreading around the world. The patient is from the Sumy region, there was no vaccination against COVID-19. In order to protect yourself from a severe course of the disease in case of infection, doctors advise not to ignore vaccination.
“It has been proven that vaccinated people are protected from the severe consequences of disease and death. Today, it’s easier than ever to get vaccinated – you don’t even need to have a declaration with your family doctor. You just come to the nearest medical facility or Vaccination Center. The COVID-19 vaccine is available for all adults and children from 5 years old. Before vaccination, you do not need to undergo examinations, take specific medications or follow a diet. It is free and effective. Therefore, protect yourself and your loved ones, “advises Andrey Pashinny, head of the immunization department at the Public Health Center.
Galina Girak
