Thread by @kakape

"The number of weekly reported deaths from #covid19 continues to decline and is now at the lowest level in almost a year”, says @DrTedros at @WHO presser.
"But it’s still an unacceptably high level: almost 50,000 deaths a week, and the real number is certainly higher."

@DrTedros @WHO "Deaths are declining in every region except Europe, where several countries are facing fresh waves of cases and deaths”, says @drtedros.

@DrTedros @WHO “Of course, deaths are highest in the countries and populations with the least access to #covid19 vaccines”, says @DrTedros.
"We ask once again for the countries and companies that control the global supply of #covid19 vaccines to prioritize supply to COVAX and to AVAT now"

@DrTedros @WHO Some countries are constrained by capacity, especially countries affected by fragility or violence, @DrTedros says.
"With aggressive and ambitious action, most of these countries can still reach the 40% target by the end of this year, or be on a clear pathway to reaching it"

@DrTedros @WHO "But it takes global cooperation”, says @drtedros. "Countries that continue to roll out boosters now are effectively preventing other countries from vaccinating their most at-risk populations. Supply is finite. In the end, this is a zero-sum game"

@DrTedros @WHO Now on to SAGO:
“There will now be a two-week public consultation period for WHO to receive feedback on the proposed SAGO members, following which the composition of SAGO will be confirmed and the group will have its first meeting”, says @drtedros.

https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1448269526563446788

@DrTedros @WHO “The emergence of new viruses with the potential to spark epidemics and pandemics is a fact of nature, and while #SARSCoV2 is the latest such virus, it will not be the last”, says @DrTedros

@DrTedros @WHO Q: SAGO includes members from all permanent UN security council members. Does that reflect sensitivity of the mandate?
No, says @DrMikeRyan.
“We certainly need strong nations with scientific power to be part of the process, but it's their scientists we need not the politicians."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan “What we need this group to do, is urgently assess where we are in what we know and what we don't know and what urgently needs to be done”, says @mvankerkhove.
“There’s no time to waste."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "Following the last mission to China, there were more than three dozen recommended studies that needed to be carried out”, says @mvankerkhove.
"We hope to get an update on those studies as well, so that we can say okay, here's what's next."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Here’s a first piece on the SAGO announcement:

science.org/content/articl…

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove There is also an editorial written by @mvankerkhove, @DrMikeRyan and @DrTedros in @ScienceMagazine published today:
science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @ScienceMagazine "I anticipate that SAGO in its discussions about the urgent next steps for understanding the origins of the current pandemic will recommend further studies in China and potentially elsewhere”, says @mvankerkhove.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @ScienceMagazine “It's exceptionally important … that we're able to go back and try and understand the dynamics of how that virus breached the animal-human species barrier, to understand how that virus entered the human system, given the impact it has had”, says @DrMikeRyan.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @ScienceMagazine "This has never been an easy process”, says @DrMikeRyan. "What we're trying to do ... is to take a step back, create an environment where we can again look at the scientific issues, the scientific state of the art of knowledge."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @ScienceMagazine This is “a human endeavor to understand a virus that has stopped our whole world”, says @DrMikeRyan.
"I would ask everyone countries, journalists, and everybody else to create a little space for that discussion to happen, because this is probably right now our best chance."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @ScienceMagazine “All of the scientists joining this process understand those external pressures and the scrutiny, and the visibility of the process”, says @DrMikeRyan.
We "want to be in a position where the scientists can operate without pressure in order to be able to do their jobs."