We must not lower our guard in the face of Covid-19, recalls the World Health Organization on Saturday, December 5.

The rebound of the pandemic in the United States and Canada requires vigilance despite the optimism raised by the arrival of the first vaccines.

"Vaccines don't mean zero Covid," said Mike Ryan, an expert for the World Health Organization (WHO), asking "people to keep trying."

"Vaccination will add a major, major and powerful tool to the toolkit we have at our disposal. But on its own, it won't do the job," he warned.

At #UNGASS on # COVID19, I called on world leaders to:


1️⃣invest in vaccines to end the pandemic


2️⃣invest in preparedness to prevent the next pandemic


3️⃣invest in health as the foundation of peace & prosperity


4️⃣invest in multilateralism to safeguard our common future # ACTogether https : //t.co/pe4eTJXMDk

- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 5, 2020

With the arrival of vaccines, "we are beginning to see the end of the pandemic," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday, while warning that the virus continues to exert enormous pressure on hospitals .

Bounce back after Thanksgiving

The United States is facing an outbreak of the epidemic, with 225,000 new cases and 2,500 deaths recorded in 24 hours Friday, days after many Americans traveled in late November for the Thanksgiving holidays.

FR NW PKG V2 USA COVID STRONG RISE 3H

01:45

For its part, neighboring Canada crossed the threshold of 400,000 cases on Friday, just over two weeks after reaching 300,000, marking a sudden acceleration of the pandemic.

Faced with the danger, President-elect Joe Biden expects an inauguration ceremony in January widely online to follow the "recommendations of the experts."

"It is therefore highly unlikely that we have a million people on The Mall," the main avenue in central Washington, warned the 77-year-old Democrat.

In the United Kingdom, the health authorities consider "probable" a significant regression of the pandemic, "by spring" thanks to the vaccination.

But they are first preparing for a resurgence after Christmas.

The most bereaved country in Europe by the pandemic (more than 60,000 dead), the United Kingdom this week became the first Western country to authorize a vaccine against Covid-19 by giving the green light to that of Pfizer and BioNTech.

The first doses should be injected next week.

He was joined on Friday by Bahrain, the second country in the world to grant such permission.

The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 65 million people and killed more than 1.5 million.

The epidemic is progressing particularly in Italy, and Latin America and the Caribbean recorded an 18% increase in cases in one week.

The logistics of vaccination are being put in place

A total of 51 candidate vaccines are currently being tested in humans, with thirteen in the final phase of testing, according to WHO.

Belgium, France and Spain plan to launch vaccination campaigns in January, focusing first on the most vulnerable.

With the imminent arrival of these anti-Covid vaccines sometimes having to be stored at freezing temperatures, American companies are preparing the ground: the American logistics giant UPS has developed portable freezers allowing the vaccine to be stored between -20 and -80 ° C.

The automaker Ford has ordered its own freezers to offer vaccines to its employees, while the American meat giant Smithfield is ready to provide the cold rooms of its slaughterhouses.

>> To read also: vaccination in France must fight against the virus of mistrust

It remains to convince the population against a background of mistrust of the inoculation of vaccines designed in record time.

Several prominent personalities have promised to be vaccinated in public to set an example, such as Joe Biden, and former US President Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

While waiting for the arrival of these vaccines, the gatherings for the Christmas and New Year celebrations are likely to accelerate the spread of the epidemic, such as the rush to the stores coming out of confinement to make Christmas shopping.

With AFP

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