Thread by @kakape

"Last week, more than 15 million new cases of COVID-19 were reported to @WHO from around the world, by far the most cases reported in a single week. And we know this is an underestimate”, says @DrTedros.
“This huge spike in infections is being driven by the Omicron variant."

@WHO @DrTedros "However, the number of weekly reported deaths has remained stable since October last year, at an average of 48,000 deaths a week”, says @DrTedros.
“While the number of patients being hospitalized is increasing, in most countries, it's not at the level seen in previous waves."

@WHO @DrTedros "This is possibly due to the reduced severity of Omicron as well as widespread immunity from vaccination or previous infection”, says @DrTedros.
BUT: "while Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated."

@WHO @DrTedros 50,000 people are dying every week, @DrTedros repeats:
"Learning to live with this virus does not mean we can, or should, accept this number of deaths."

@WHO @DrTedros “In Africa, over 85% of people are yet to receive a single dose of vaccine”, says @DrTedros. "We can't end the acute phase of the pandemic unless we close this gap."

@WHO @DrTedros COVAX is making progress on this, says @drtedros:
“In December, COVAX shipped more than double the number of doses it shipped in November”, he says. “In the coming days, we expect COVAX to ship its 1 billionth vaccine dose"

@WHO @DrTedros “We still have a long way to go to reach our target of vaccinating 70% of the population of every country by the middle of this year”, says @DrTedros.
"90 countries have still not reached the 40% target. 36 of those countries have vaccinated less than 10% of their populations"

@WHO @DrTedros "In September last year, WHO established the Technical Advisory Group on COVID19 Vaccine Composition” (TAGCOVAC), says @DrTedros, a group of experts to review the implications of variants on the composition of vaccines.

@WHO @DrTedros “Yesterday, TAGCOVAC emphasized the urgent need for broader access to the vaccines we have, and that further vaccines are needed that have a greater impact on preventing infection and transmission”, says @drtedros.
Until these are available, updated vaccines may be needed.

@WHO @DrTedros TAGCOVAC also:
- said "that a vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original #COVID19 vaccine composition is unlikely to be sustainable”
- emphasized that "the immediate priority for the world is accelerating access to primary vaccination"

@WHO @DrTedros "The overwhelming majority of people admitted to hospitals around the world are unvaccinated”, says @DrTedros. "While vaccines remain very effective at preventing severe disease and death,
they do not fully prevent transmission."

@WHO @DrTedros Q about countries with lowest vaccination coverage:
Many "have achieved very high coverage for immunization against other diseases and eradicated/eliminated diseases”, says Bruce Aylward.
"They know how to run vaccination at scale."

@WHO @DrTedros “While we did not share vaccines for six months, seven months, eight months, what we did share was a lot of misinformation, a lot of bad practice, a lot of problems”, says Bruce Aylward.

@WHO @DrTedros “This is not the time to give up. This is not the time to give in. This is not the time to declare that this is a welcome virus”, says @DrMikeRyan.
"No virus is welcome that kills people."

@WHO @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan "At the present time, we're not able to prevent all infections, but we can limit the spread and we can reduce the sheer number of cases that are occurring right now”, says @mvankerkhove.
"We can also reduce the severity of COVID-19 with vaccination, with earlier clinical care…"

@WHO @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “We are asking everyone to help us reduce the spread”, says @mvankerkhove.
"Because the sheer volume of cases is putting a burden on health care systems. Because even though Omicron is less severe than delta it still is putting people in hospital... It is still killing people."

@WHO @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove The omicron curve is “absolutely staggering”, says Aylward. “In 30 years working on inf diseases we have not seen an epidemic curve like this before."
"In the face of something like that, you want to do everything you can to slow this thing down and take the heat out of it."

@WHO @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "We have a choice here and the choice is to wear a mask, get vaccinated do everything you can to slow this thing down so others don't pay a price”, says Aylward.

@WHO @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Question about vaccine mandates (and Djokovic).
“There are circumstances in which vaccine mandates are supported by @WHO", says @DrMikeRyan. But WHO asks governments to be cautious around this and all other measures should be taken first, he emphasizes.

@WHO @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Ryan:
“The best way to get people vaccinated is to inform them, to educate, to have a dialogue and address people's genuine concerns when it comes to information and knowledge about vaccination especially for them, their families, their children, their parents, and community."