The World Health Organization (WHO) chief says he is optimistic that the coronavirus pandemic will be defeated in 2022, provided countries work together to contain its spread.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu warned against “narrow nationalism and vaccine hoarding” in a new year statement.
His comments come two years since the WHO was first notified of cases of an unknown pneumonia strain in China.
Global Covid cases now stand at 287m, while nearly 5.5m people have died.
Across the world people are marking the new year but celebrations are muted, with many countries wanting to discourage crowds gathering.
Coronavirus remains part of daily life: a disease that has shut borders, split families and in some places made it unthinkable to leave the house without carrying a mask.
Despite all this, Dr Tedros sounded a positive note in his speech, noting that there are now many more tools to treat Covid-19.
The WHO has set a new goal for 2022: vaccinate 70% of people in all countries by July to end the pandemic.
Source: bbc.com, published 31 Dec 2021.
