Thread by @WHO

Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros pscp.tv/w/c7r4_zI2MTAy…

@DrTedros "Last week marked the 4th consecutive week of increasing cases of #COVID19 globally, with increases recorded in all but one of WHO’s six regions. And after 10 weeks of declines, deaths are increasing again"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "We continue to hear reports from all regions of the world about hospitals reaching capacity. The Delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in #COVID19 cases and death"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414594554632757252?s=20

@DrTedros "Not everywhere is taking the same hit though, we’re in the midst of a growing two-track #COVID19 pandemic where the haves and have-nots within and between countries are increasingly divergent"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414594660639682561?s=20

@DrTedros "In places with high vaccination coverage, Delta is spreading quickly; especially infecting unprotected and vulnerable people and steadily putting pressure back on health systems"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414594774238126086?s=20

@DrTedros "For #healthworkers that have been in a titanic battle for more than a year and have record waiting lists to attend to, increased hospitalisations at any level is a challenge to them and their patients and to the overall capacity of the health system"-@DrTedros #COVID19

@DrTedros "As countries lift public health and social measures, they must consider the impact on #healthworkers and health systems"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414594993201852420?s=20

@DrTedros "In countries with low vaccine coverage, the situation is particularly bad. Delta and other highly transmissible variants are driving catastrophic waves of #COVID19 cases, which are translating into high numbers of hospitalisations and death"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414594774238126086?s=20

@DrTedros "Even countries that successfully managed to ward off the early waves of the #COVID19 virus, through public health measures alone, are now in the midst of devastating outbreaks"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "Particularly in low-income countries, exhausted #healthworkers are battling to save lives in the midst of shortages of personal protective equipment, oxygen and treatments"-@DrTedros #COVID19

@DrTedros "Vaccines have never been the way out of this crisis on their own but this current wave is demonstrating again just what a powerful tool they are to battle back against this virus"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #VaccinEquity

@DrTedros "Delta is now in more than 104 countries and we expect it to soon be the dominant #COVID19 strain circulating worldwide. The world is watching in real time as the COVID-19 virus continues to change and become more transmissible"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "My message today is that we are experiencing a worsening public health emergency that further threatens lives, livelihoods and a sound global economic recovery"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414595688009248771?s=20

@DrTedros "It is definitely worse in places that have very few vaccines but the #COVID19 pandemic is not over anywhere. The current collective strategy reminds me of a fire fighting team taking on a forest blaze"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414595815474147336?s=20

@DrTedros "Hosing down part of it might reduce the flames in one area but while it’s smouldering anywhere, sparks will eventually travel & grow again into a roaring furnace. The 🌍 should battle together to put out the #COVID19 pandemic inferno everywhere"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414595972353728513?s=20

@DrTedros "The global gap in #COVID19 vaccine supply is hugely uneven and inequitable. Some countries and regions are actually ordering millions of booster doses, before other countries have had supplies to vaccinate their #healthworkers and most vulnerable"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity

@DrTedros "I ask you, who would put fire fighters on the frontline without protection?

Who are most the vulnerable to the flames of the #COVID19 pandemic?

The #healthworkers on the frontlines, older persons and the vulnerable"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "We are making conscious choices right now not to protect those most in need; our own fire-fighters"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414596607899750403?s=20

@DrTedros "Currently, data shows us that vaccination offers long lasting immunity against severe and deadly #COVID19. The priority now must be to vaccinate those who have received no doses and protection"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity

@DrTedros "Instead of Moderna & Pfizer prioritizing the supply of 💉 as boosters to countries whose populations have relatively high coverage, we need them to go all out to channel supply to #COVAX, the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team & low- & low-middle income countries"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "Over the weekend, the @g20org finance ministers recognized the importance of funding the @ACTAccelerator so that the 🌍 can ensure tests, treatments & vaccines are distributed equitably & I hope this translates quickly to filling the $16B funding gap"-@DrTedros #ACTogether

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator "Tens of millions of vaccine dose donations are starting to come through but we need more & we need them faster. We need an all out, no regrets, accelerated building up of new vaccine manufacturing hubs"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity #ACTogether

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator "For that to happen quicker, pharmaceutical companies must share their licenses, know how and technology.

AstraZeneca has led on licensing their vaccines around the world to increase vaccine capacity quickly"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414597916677844993?s=20

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator "As well as Europe, 🇮🇳 and 🇰🇷, I am pleased to announce two more manufacturing sites, in 🇯🇵 and 🇦🇺, which have now received a WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL), bringing AstraZeneca’s EUL’s to five"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414598078729003020?s=20

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator "This gives the green light for #COVAX to buy #COVID19 vaccines from these additional facilities, and enables countries to expedite their own regulatory approval to import and roll out vaccines"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414598371701055492?s=20

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator "We need other manufacturers to follow this example.

Thousands of people are still dying every day and that deserves urgent action.

I will discuss the worsening situation on Wednesday at the International Health Regulations emergency committee meeting"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator "Next week, the World Health Organization and @wto will bring together leaders of the public and private sectors to address the shortage and inequity of vaccines and other health tools"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator @wto "No more talk about vaccinating low-income countries in 2023, 2024. This is no time for a lull, we want to see progress being built on and a surge of action to scale up the supply and sharing of lifesaving health tools"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1414599085936492545?s=20

@DrTedros @g20org @ACTAccelerator @wto The full remarks by @DrTedros at the #COVID19 media briefing - 12 July 2021

bit.ly/3xGF71G