▲ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO)


More than 90% of the world's population has been diagnosed with immunity to COVID-19.



Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said at a press conference on the 2nd local time, "WHO believes that at least 90% of the world's population has some level of immunity to Corona 19, thanks to vaccination or experience of infection. I assume they have it," he said.



Secretary-General Ghebreyesus urged that we should not be alert to the spread of the Corona 19 pandemic.



“It is true that we are getting closer to the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, but not yet,” said Ghebreyesus.



He went on to point out as a major concern that there are gaps in the mechanisms that will sustain public health by containing the spread of COVID-19.



Secretary-General Ghebreyesus pointed out that "the gap in COVID-19 surveillance, testing and vaccination is the perfect condition for the emergence of a new mutation that can lead to high mortality."



This means that if the epidemic continues due to poor quarantine and health systems in underdeveloped countries, highly contagious and fatal mutations can emerge and spread again around the world.



Secretary-General Ghebreyesus explained that there are currently more than 500 submutations of Omicron, and that although these mutations may be less lethal, they are more contagious.



Omicron, which appeared a year ago in South Africa and became the dominant species worldwide, was classified as a concern mutation immediately after its discovery due to its explosive contagiousness.



In particular, new submutations of Omicron, such as BA.2 and BA.5, have been confirmed to evade antibodies produced by infection with BA.1, an early Omicron virus.



Secretary-General Ghebreyesus said last week that more than 8,500 people died from COVID-19, and it is unacceptable that such deaths occur now, in the third year of the outbreak and having learned to some extent how to prevent infection and save lives. It sounded the alarm again.



(Photo = Provided by WHO, Yonhap News)