COVID cases and deaths declining globally
The number of new coronavirus cases and fatalities reported internationally continued to diminish practically everywhere on Wednesday, which the World Health Organization referred to as a “welcome drop” during a media conference that took place earlier in the day.
According to the United Nations’ health organization, there were 4.5 million newly reported cases of COVID-19 last week. This is a 16% decrease from the week before. The number of people who passed away decreased by 13%, coming in at around 13,500. According to the WHO, the number of COVID-19 infections has reduced over the globe, while the number of fatalities has declined almost everywhere except for Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, where the number of deaths has increased by 3% and 15%, respectively.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a warning that with the upcoming onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the possible emergence of a new COVID-19 variant that is more dangerous, experts anticipate that there will be an increase in the number of people who are hospitalized and who pass away. Tedros said that vaccination rates were still too low, even in wealthy countries. He pointed out that 30% of healthcare workers and 20% of senior citizens were not vaccinated.
“These vaccination gaps pose a risk to all of us,” he said. “Please get vaccinated if you are not and a booster if it’s recommended that you have one.”
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States gave its approval for the first update of COVID-19 vaccinations. These booster doses are intended to combat the omicron strain that is now the most prevalent. The authorities have indicated that firing might commence within the next several days.
Up to this point, COVID-19 vaccines have targeted the original strain of coronavirus, despite the fact that a wide variety of mutants have emerged. The new booster injections in the United States are combo shots, sometimes known as “bivalent” shots. They have half of the original vaccine formula and half of the protection against the most recent omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5, which are thought to be the most dangerous to date.
At the beginning of this month, the government of Britain made the decision to provide individuals aged 50 and older with a new booster choice from Moderna. This alternative is a combination injection that targets the original BA.1 omicron strain.
On Friday, the European Medicines Agency will deliberate on whether or not to grant authorization to Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s combination COVID-19 vaccine, which also contains the BA.1 component. The regulatory body of the European Union is now looking at a new version of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that includes the BA.5 subvariant of omicron.
