News | Coronavirus: 90% of the world’s population has some form of immunity, according to the World Health Organization

By La Provence (with AFP)

At least 90% of the world’s population has some form of immunity to COVID-19, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday, while warning of waning vigilance.

This decrease in vigilance leaves the door open for the emergence of a new variant that is likely to spread and replace the currently dominant Omicron variant, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed during a press conference.

“The World Health Organization estimates that at least 90% of the world’s population currently has some form of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, either through previous infection or vaccination.He added, referring to the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The head of the World Health Organization warned against the temptation to assert prematurely that the emerging phase of the pandemic was over. “We’re not there yet“, pointed out.

“Gaps in surveillance, testing, sequencing and immunization continue to create the ideal conditions for the emergence of a new variant of concern that could cause significant mortality.“, to caution.

The Omicron variant, declared as a new variant of concern by the World Health Organization a year ago, has since spread around the world, proving to be far more contagious than its predecessor, Delta.

According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, more than 500 sub-Omicron variants are currently in circulation, all of which are highly contagious and have mutations that make them able to overcome immune barriers more easily, although they cause less severe forms of the disease than previous variants. .

A total of 6.6 million deaths have been reported by countries to the WHO, while nearly 640 million confirmed cases have been recorded.

According to the World Health Organization, the real losses are much heavier.

Last week, more than 8,500 deaths due to Covid-19 were recorded.Which is unacceptable three years into the pandemic, when we have so many tools to prevent infections and save livesTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed.