World Health Organization says 1,700 still dying worldwide every week from Covid-19
- UN agency urged at-risk populations to maintain vaccinations and asked governments to ensure access to affordable tests, treatments and vaccines
Covid-19 is still claiming 1,700 lives a week, says WHO. Photo: EPA-EFEThe World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Covid-19 is still causing around 1,700 deaths a week around the world. WHO has cautioned at-risk populations to maintain their vaccinations against the disease, with WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sounding a warning on declining vaccine coverage.
Despite the continued death toll, “data show that vaccine coverage has declined among health workers and people over 60, which are two of the most at-risk groups,” the UN health agency’s chief told a press conference.
“WHO recommends that people in the highest-risk groups receive a Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of their last dose.”
Past Covid-19 infections likely to provide protection against certain colds
More than seven million Covid-19 deaths have been reported to the WHO, though the true toll of the pandemic is thought to be far higher.
Covid-19 also shredded economies and crippled health systems.
Tedros declared an end to Covid-19 as an international public health emergency in May 2023, more than three years on from when the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.
The WHO has urged governments to maintain virus surveillance and sequencing, and to ensure access to affordable and reliable tests, treatments and vaccines.