The WHO is making regular appeals through its social media accounts urging people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.
Do your best to not get infected and get vaccinated
As the highly infectious Omicron variant of the coronavirus is sweeping the world, the World Health Organization has urged people to “not give up”. Its COVID-19 technical lead Dr Maria Van Kerkhove has asked people to be kind to one another and fight the virus together. Do your best to not get infected and get vaccinated once your turn comes, she said.
WHO is making regular appeals through its social media accounts to urge people to follow COVID-19 guidelines, including wearing a mask and maintaining social distance. It has also repeatedly called for vaccine equity around the world to end this pandemic.
Dr Kerkhove, also an infectious disease epidemiologist, said, “I think the big message that we have for everyone around the world is don't give up.” She said, in a video appeal shared by the health body on Instagram, that the world has the possibility right now to reduce transmission significantly, but that is being complicated by Omicron “because it is so efficiently transmitting”.
She said it is not the time to fight each other but to defeat the virus. Given that there is an increased transmission and many are getting infected, she has asked people to just “hang in there” and fight this virus together. “Because we are in this together”, she added.
The appeal has come at a time when some people have begun to lower their guard and are responding casually to rapidly increasing infections. Though some studies have suggested that the infection does not cause as many hospitalisations as the delta variant caused, there is no reason to take the risk.
“So what we need is everybody to play their part. First and foremost, prevent the opportunity to get infected,” the WHO technical lead said, adding fighting for vaccine equity around the world is “so absolutely critical” now.
Recently, Dr Kerkhove had urged people to not take omicron lightly, saying the chance of developing severe disease is real.
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