But he said “ending the acute phase of the pandemic must remain our collective priority.”“There are different scenarios for how the pandemic could play out and how the acute phase could end. But it’s dangerous to assume that omicron will be the last variant or that we are in the endgame,” Tedros told the start of a WHO executive board meeting this week. Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than the previous delta variant, according to studies. It also more easily infects those who have been vaccinated or had previously been infected by prior versions of the virus. “Let me put it plainly: If the current funding model continues, WHO is being set up to fail,” he said.
