NEW DELHI: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has sent out a warning that a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic could hit the world sooner than expected especially due to the Delta variant’s spread, along with increased social mobility and the inconsistent use of proven public health measures. 

Tedros was addressing the Emergency Committee on COVID-19, established under the International Health Regulations (IHR), a treaty that guides global response to public health risks.

"Unfortunately...we are now in the early stages of a third wave," Tedros said, further adding, "The Delta variant is now in more than 111 countries and we expect it to soon be the dominant COVID-19 strain circulating worldwide if it isn’t already."

Recalling the sustained decline in COVID-19 cases and deaths that was being driven, by increasing vaccination rates in Europe and North America in recent months, he sounded alarms over the fresh reversal of that positive trend.

Tedros also drew the attention of the committee to the ongoing 'shocking disparity in the global distribution of vaccines, as well as unequal access to life-saving tools.  

He reiterated his concern that inequity has created a two-track pandemic, namely, one track for countries with the greatest access to vaccines, who are lifting restrictions and reopening their societies, and a second track for those without vaccines access who are left at the mercy of the virus.'

"Many countries still have not received any vaccines, and most have not received enough,' he said and reiterated WHO’s appeal for a massive push to vaccinate at least 10 percent of the population of every country by September, at least 40 per cent by the end of 2021, and at least 70 per cent by mid-2022.