The UN health agency is also concerned that more severe variants of the coronavirus could soon emerge.
“COVID-19 is still very much with us” and circulating in all countries, WHO’s Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters in Geneva.
Positive test
“Data from our sentinel surveillance system in 84 countries indicate that the percentage of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 has been increasing over several weeks,” she said. “Overall, test positivity is above 10 percent.but this fluctuates by region. In Europe, the positivity rate is over 20 percent.,” she added.
New waves of infection have been recorded in the Americas, Europe and the Western Pacific.
Wastewater monitoring suggests that SARS-CoV-2 circulation is between two and 20 times higher than current figures suggest.
These high rates of infection circulation in the northern hemisphere summer months are atypical for respiratory viruseswhich tend to spread mainly in cold temperatures.
“In recent months, regardless of the season, many countries have experienced waves of COVID-19, Even at the Olympics, where at least 40 athletes tested positive.”said Dr. Van Kerkhove.
As the virus continues to evolve and spread, there is an increasing risk of a more severe strain of the virus that could evade detection systems and not respond to medical intervention.
Raising awareness about vaccines
While hospital admissions, including those to intensive care, remain much lower than during the peak of the pandemic, WHO is urging governments to step up vaccination campaigns, ensuring that the highest-risk groups receive vaccines at least once every 12 months.
“As individuals, it is important to take steps to reduce the risk of infection and serious illness, including making sure you have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the past 12 months, especially if you are in an at-risk group”Dr. Van Kerkhove stressed.
Vaccine availability has declined substantially over the past 12 to 18 months, WHO admits, because the number of COVID-19 vaccine producers has recently declined.
“It is very difficult for them to keep up,” Dr. Van Kerkhove explained. “And they certainly don’t need to keep up the pace that they had in 2021 and 2022. But let’s be very clear, there is a market for COVID-19 vaccines that are [already] out there.”
Moving forward with the nose
Nasal vaccines are still in development, but could address transmission, thereby reducing the risk of other variants, infection and severe disease.
“I am concerned,” said the WHO’s top COVID expert.
“With so little coverage and such a large circulation, If we had a variant that was more severe, then the susceptibility of at-risk populations to developing severe disease would be enormous.“,” Dr. Van Kerkhove warned.
