World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said that by the middle of this year, 70% of the world's population must have been vaccinated against COVID-19 before the pandemic can end this year.
Secretary-General Ted Ross said during a visit to Cape Town, South Africa, warning that new mutations could emerge as vaccination targets are delayed.
According to the international statistical site Our World in Data, the current global vaccination rate is 54.2%.
However, in Africa, it is only 11.69%.
Director-General Tedros added that boosting vaccinations are important, but for now the urgent need is to strengthen vaccination campaigns for those who have not yet been vaccinated.
He also said that it was difficult to set a deadline for when the mask could be removed, but rather worried that wearing a mask could become a culture in the future.
Director-General Tedros also said the world was not prepared to respond to another pandemic, noting that new drugs are expensive even in high-income countries, and that there is no common treaty to deal with the pandemic.
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