WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE

STORY: WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
TRT: 4:29
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 DECEMBER 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, WHO emblem outside headquarters

14 DECEMBER 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
"Seventy-seven countries have now reported cases of Omicron, and the reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet. Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant. We’re concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild. Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril."
4. Wide shot, press room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
"Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems. I need to be very clear: vaccines alone will not get any country out of this crisis. Countries can – and must – prevent the spread of Omicron with measures that work today. It’s not vaccines instead of masks. It’s not vaccines instead of distancing. It’s not vaccines instead of ventilation or hand hygiene. Do it all. Do it consistently. Do it well."
6. Wide shot, press room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Evolving evidence suggests a small decline in the effectiveness of vaccines against severe disease and death, and a decline in preventing mild disease or infection. The emergence of Omicron has prompted some countries to roll out booster programmes for their entire adult populations, even while we lack evidence for the effectiveness of boosters against this variant. WHO is concerned that such programmes will repeat the vaccine hoarding we saw this year and exacerbate inequity."
8. Wide shot, press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“It’s clear that as we move forward, boosters could play an important role, especially for those at highest risk of severe disease and death. Let me be very clear: WHO is not against boosters. We are against inequity. Our main concern is to save lives, everywhere. It’s a question of prioritization. Who gets what vaccines, in what order? The order matters. Giving boosters to groups at low risk of severe disease or death simply endangers the lives of those at high risk who are still waiting for their primary doses because of supply constraints."
10. Wide shot, press room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“This is a highly transmissible variant. It's hard to stop it. But you can take the heat out of the transmission by doing the simple things - protecting yourself, protecting your family, protecting your community, avoiding crowded spaces, wearing a mask, ensuring good ventilation, washing your hands. And the governments need to support communities in doing that by putting in place layered measures that support communities in doing that and getting the health system ready. Health workers are exhausted. Many countries have lost up to 20 percent of their health workers. Health systems are weaker than they were a year ago in reality. So, unfortunately, sometimes you can get up after the first punch, but it is very hard to get up after the second and third; and that is the difficulty. We are relying on health workers and a health system that have been weakened by this response, and Dr Tedros's concern is that we don't be complacent. We don't wait for it to be overwhelmed by a wave of cases. We have some time to get better prepared and to make sure our systems are able to cope."
12. Wide shot, press room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Abdi Mahamud, Incident Manager, COVID-19 Incident Management Support Team, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The early data in the outbreak has occurred in very young age population. Where they look at the data from the UK it's between 20-29 (years old). And the early outbreak in South Africa was a university cluster. So, the concentration of the age group may give some people false reassurance that it is milder. We don't know. The greatest risk for SARS-CoV, for COVID has been age. So how do we protect our elder population, a high-risk population, will be very critical as Mike said. We really, really need to prepare."
14. Wide shot, press room

STORYLINE:

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said Omicron is "spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant” adding that the variant is “probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet.”

Speaking to reporters in Geneva today (14 Dec), Dr Tedros said 77 countries have now reported cases of Omicron. He expressed concern that people are dismissing the variant as mild, and said, “Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril."

The WHO chief said even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, “the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems.” He added, “I need to be very clear: vaccines alone will not get any country out of this crisis. Countries can – and must – prevent the spread of Omicron with measures that work today. It’s not vaccines instead of masks. It’s not vaccines instead of distancing. It’s not vaccines instead of ventilation or hand hygiene. Do it all. Do it consistently. Do it well."

Dr Tedros said there was evolving evidence of a “small decline in the effectiveness of vaccines against severe disease and death, and a decline in preventing mild disease or infection.” He said, while the emergence of Omicron has prompted some countries to roll out booster programmes for their entire adult populations, there is a lack evidence for the effectiveness of boosters against this variant. He said WHO was concerned that such programmes would “repeat the vaccine hoarding we saw this year and exacerbate inequity."

The Director-General said, “It’s clear that as we move forward, boosters could play an important role, especially for those at highest risk of severe disease and death. Let me be very clear: WHO is not against boosters. We are against inequity. Our main concern is to save lives, everywhere. It’s a question of prioritization. Who gets what vaccines, in what order? The order matters. Giving boosters to groups at low risk of severe disease or death simply endangers the lives of those at high risk who are still waiting for their primary doses because of supply constraints."

Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said Omicron is a “highly transmissible variant.” He said, “It's hard to stop it. But you can take the heat out of the transmission by doing the simple things - protecting yourself, protecting your family, protecting your community, avoiding crowded spaces, wearing a mask, ensuring good ventilation, washing your hands. And the governments need to support communities in doing that by putting in place layered measures that support communities in doing that and getting the health system ready. Health workers are exhausted. Many countries have lost up to 20 percent of their health workers. Health systems are weaker than they were a year ago in reality. So, unfortunately, sometimes you can get up after the first punch, but it is very hard to get up after the second and third; and that is the difficulty. We are relying on health workers and a health system that have been weakened by this response, and Dr Tedros's concern is that we don't be complacent. We don't wait for it to be overwhelmed by a wave of cases. We have some time to get better prepared and to make sure our systems are able to cope."

The head of WHO’s COVID-19 Incident Management Support Team, Dr Abdi Mahamud, said early data in the Omicron outbreak was collected from very young age population which “may give some people false reassurance that it is milder.” He said, “We don't know. The greatest risk for SARS-CoV, for COVID has been age. So how do we protect our elder population, a high-risk population, will be very critical,” and stressed the need to prepare.