The world is now in the early stages of a third wave,amid rising cases of Covid's Delta variant, World Health Organisation DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.
The spread of the Delta variant, along with increasedsocial mobility and the inconsistent use of proven public health measures, isdriving an increase in both case numbers and deaths, he said at the 8th meetingof the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on Wednesday.
"And after 10 weeks of declines, deaths areincreasing again. The virus continues to evolve, resulting in moretransmissible variants. Unfortunately, we are now in the early stages of athird wave," Ghebreyesus said.
"The Delta variant is now in more than 111 countriesand we expect it to soon be the dominant Covid-19 strain circulating worldwide,if it isn't already," he added.
At the same time, there is "shocking disparity"in the global distribution of vaccines, and unequal access to life-savingtools, he lamented. Many countries still have not received any vaccines, andmost have not received enough.
Covax, the international vaccine-sharing initiative --led by the WHO) and other international organizations -- has shipped just over 100million doses, so far.
Ghebreyesus stated that inequity has created a two-trackpandemic -- namely, one track for countries with the greatest access tovaccines, who are lifting restrictions and reopening their societies, and a second track for those without vaccine access who are left "at the mercyof the virus".
He reiterated WHO's appeal for a massive push tovaccinate at least 10 percent of the population of every country by September,at least 40 percent by the end of 2021, and at least 70 percent by mid-2022.
Emphasizing that vaccines alone will not stop thepandemic, he also called upon countries to persist with a "tailored andconsistent approach". This includes using the full array of public healthand social measures, and a comprehensive risk management approach to massgatherings.
"So many countries around the world have shown thatthis virus can be stopped and contained with these measures," he stressed.
The global health agency is also reviewing options to digitalize the International Certificate for Vaccination and Prophylaxis, tosupport a harmonized approach for recording vaccination status.