WHO warns of ‘strong likelihood’ of new, possibly more dangerous variants – Everett Post

Everett

(NEW YORK) – The World Health Organization warned Thursday that the escalating COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world is increasing the likelihood of new, potentially dangerous variants emerging in the future.

“The pandemic is far from over,” said Professor Didier Houssin, chairman of the WHO COVID-19 Emergency Committee.

The global surge in new cases has highlighted the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. In Africa, cases exceeded their second wave peak in the seven days that ended July 4, and the death toll rose 40% this week, according to WHO.

At the beginning of the pandemic, there was only one variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As the virus spread around the world, it mutated and spawned thousands of new versions of itself – some of which were more contagious than the original.

There are currently four worrying variants identified by the WHO using the Greek alphabet. The latest Delta variant, first discovered in India, has been identified in more than 111 countries and is now responsible for almost 60% of all cases in the USA

“We assume that it will be the dominant variety worldwide, if it is not already the case,” said WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

As the virus continues to spread, new variants could emerge in the future that could be even more difficult to control, the WHO warned.

Vaccines are one of the most important tools in the world to prevent the spread of current SARS-CoV-2 variants, which means the virus has less opportunity to develop into new variants. But many countries don’t have enough vaccines. According to Oxford University’s Global Change Data Lab, only 25.8% of the world’s population have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The WHO continued on Thursday to stress the importance of using all emergency vaccines currently approved and called for vaccinations to at least 10% of each country’s population by September 2021.

WHO encouraged wealthier countries to share vaccine supplies with the rest of the world. In combination with vaccinations, the use of evidence-based public health and social interventions, including masks, physical distancing and hand hygiene, remains the most effective strategy to combat the spread of all SARS-CoV2 variants.

“The virus continues to evolve, resulting in more communicable variants,” Ghebreyesus said last week as the world saw four consecutive weeks of rising cases.

Chidimma J. Acholonu, MD, MPH. is a resident pediatrician at the University of Chicago and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.