Although there are tools to make the dream of returning to normal come true, many governments and companies make it difficult to accomplish, he said.

Seventy-five percent of vaccines were administered in only 10 countries; that is the reason why we do not end the pandemic, the WHO chief emphasized in a speech at the 138th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

There are no vaccines against HIV, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, there is no simple test for all forms of tuberculosis; however, for Covid-19, we have ways to prevent, detect and treat it, so we can choose to end the pandemic, he said.

Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out that governments must protect their population by combining appropriate and consistent public health and social measures.

WHO calls for mass vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus by immunizing at least 10 percent of the population of each country by September 2021, 40 percent by the end of this year and 70 by mid-2022.

He regretted the world’s incapacity to share vaccines, tests and treatments, even oxygen.

While in rich countries it is already about a booster shot with a third dose, in low-income nations only 1 percent of the population has gotten at least one shot, he noted.

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