WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE

STORY: WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
TRT: 5:34
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 07 JUNE 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, WHO headquarters exterior

07 JUNE 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, press room
3. Wide shot, WHO officials at dais
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Globally, we continue to see encouraging signs in the trajectory of the pandemic. The number of new cases of COVID-19 reported to WHO has now declined for six weeks in a row, and deaths have declined for five weeks. However, we still see a mixed picture around the world. The number of deaths reported last week increased in three out of WHO’s six regions: Africa, the Americas and the Western Pacific. Increasingly, we see a two-track pandemic: many countries still face an extremely dangerous situation, while some of those with the highest vaccination rates are starting to talk about ending restrictions."
5. Wide shot, WHO officials at dais
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
"In countries with the greatest access to vaccines, we are seeing a decline in mortality among older age groups. In these countries, the public health and social measures that have helped to protect people are being eased, but they must be eased cautiously, and adjusted in line with viral circulation and response capacities. With the increased global transmission of variants of concern including the Delta variant, lifting restrictions too quickly could be disastrous for those who are not vaccinated. But many countries don’t have that option, because they don’t have enough vaccines. In these countries, the continued use of tailored public health measures is the best way to suppress transmission."
7. Wide shot, WHO officials at dais
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
"The inequitable distribution of vaccines has allowed the virus to continue spreading, increasing the chances of a variant emerging that renders vaccines less effective. Six months since the first vaccines were administered, high-income countries have administered almost 44 percent of the world’s doses. Low-income countries have administered just 0.4 percent. The most frustrating thing about this statistic is that it hasn’t changed in months. Inequitable vaccination is a threat to all nations, not just those with the fewest vaccines."
9. Wide shot, WHO officials at dais
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organizations (WHO):
"While these vaccines do reduce the chances of infection, they are not 100 percent. And so, even if you have had two vaccines and you are protected from getting severe disease or ending up in the hospital, you might not be protected from getting the infection and passing it on to others. And there is a tendency, or there's a natural tendency, for people to think once they've had the vaccine that, you know, that they are protected and there is a tendency to drop your guard and to stop taking all the measures like the mask wearing and the distancing that one would have done otherwise."
11. Wide shot, press room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 Technical lead, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Programme (WHO):
"The Delta variant is indeed more transmissible than the Alpha variant, and it is spreading in the UK. It's spreading in more than 60 countries right now around the world. As the virus spreads, the more variants will be detected. And we are seeing these worrying trends of increased transmissibility, increased social mixing, relaxing of public health and social measures, and uneven and inequitable vaccine distribution around the world. Those four factors are a really dangerous combination around the world."
13. Wide shot, WHO officials at dais
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Programme (WHO):
"So, it is a difficult decision now for many countries who've managed to keep a very low or zero COVID strategy in place for so long, to open up again with the possibilities, and in fact, the probability that disease may be reimported from other countries in which the disease is not under control. And in that situation, countries will have to maintain a very, very high alert surveillance system, have a very switched-on population and will need to increase their vaccination levels. At the end of the day, high levels of vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic."
15. Wide shot, WHO officials at dais
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Programme (WHO):
"We will continue to work with all parties, especially in the case of COVID origins. It is very, very important that the world understands what the origins of SARS-CoV-2 was. It is important for now, it's important for the future in terms of preventing further pandemics. It is not always easy to determine that. For many, many other diseases, it has taken years of study in order to be able to even understand the basics of that. So, it is not an easy task. And we will continue in the second phase to propose the necessary studies to take our understanding and knowledge to the next level."
17. Wide shot, WHO emblem on wall

STORYLINE:

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said high-income countries have administered almost 44 percent of the world’s COVID-19 vaccine doses, while Low-income countries have administered just 0.4 percent and stressed that “inequitable vaccination is a threat to all nations, not just those with the fewest vaccines."

Speaking at a press conference in Geneva today (07 Jun), Dr Tedros said the has been encouraging signs in the trajectory of the pandemic globally, with the number of new COVID-19 cases declining for six weeks and deaths declining for five weeks in a row. However, he said there was still a “mixed picture around the world.” He added, “The number of deaths reported last week increased in three out of WHO’s six regions: Africa, the Americas and the Western Pacific. Increasingly, we see a two-track pandemic: many countries still face an extremely dangerous situation, while some of those with the highest vaccination rates are starting to talk about ending restrictions."

The WHO Director-General said, in countries with the greatest access to vaccines, there has been a decline in mortality among older age groups. In these countries, “the public health and social measures that have helped to protect people are being eased, but they must be eased cautiously, and adjusted in line with viral circulation and response capacities.” He added, “With the increased global transmission of variants of concern including the Delta variant, lifting restrictions too quickly could be disastrous for those who are not vaccinated. But many countries don’t have that option, because they don’t have enough vaccines. In these countries, the continued use of tailored public health measures is the best way to suppress transmission."

Dr Tedros stressed that the inequitable distribution of vaccines has allowed the virus to continue spreading, increasing the chances of a variant emerging “that renders vaccines less effective.” He said, “Six months since the first vaccines were administered, high-income countries have administered almost 44 percent of the world’s doses. Low-income countries have administered just 0.4 percent. The most frustrating thing about this statistic is that it hasn’t changed in months. Inequitable vaccination is a threat to all nations, not just those with the fewest vaccines."

WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said while vaccines do reduce the chances of infection, “they are not 100 percent.” She added, “Even if you have had two vaccines and you are protected from getting severe disease or ending up in the hospital, you might not be protected from getting the infection and passing it on to others. And there is a tendency, or there's a natural tendency, for people to think once they've had the vaccine that, you know, that they are protected and there is a tendency to drop your guard and to stop taking all the measures like the mask wearing and the distancing that one would have done otherwise."

WHO’s COVID-19 Technical lead Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said the Delta variant is more transmissible than the Alpha variant, and it is spreading in the UK and more than 60 other countries. She said, “As the virus spreads, the more variants will be detected. And we are seeing these worrying trends of increased transmissibility, increased social mixing, relaxing of public health and social measures, and uneven and inequitable vaccine distribution around the world. Those four factors are a really dangerous combination around the world."

WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme Executive Director Dr Mike Ryan said many countries that have contained the virus are having to make the difficult decision to open up again with the possibilities, “and in fact, the probability that disease may be reimported from other countries in which the disease is not under control.” He said, in that situation, “countries will have to maintain a very, very high alert surveillance system, have a very switched-on population and will need to increase their vaccination levels. At the end of the day, high levels of vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic."

Dr Ryan said WHO would continue to work with all parties, “especially in the case of COVID origins.” He underscored the importance of understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2.

He said, “It is important for now, it's important for the future in terms of preventing further pandemics. It is not always easy to determine that. For many, many other diseases, it has taken years of study in order to be able to even understand the basics of that. So, it is not an easy task. And we will continue in the second phase to propose the necessary studies to take our understanding and knowledge to the next level."