Pandemic’s ‘acute phase’ could end by midyear: WHO

The head of the World Health Organization said the acute phase of the pandemic could end this year, if around 70 percent of the world gets vaccinated.

"Our expectation is that the acute phase of this pandemic will end this year, of course with one condition, the 70 percent vaccination (target is achieved) by mid this year around June, July," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters in South Africa on Friday.

"If that is to be done, the acute phase can really end, and that is what we are expecting. It's in our hands. It's not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice."

He was speaking during a visit to Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, which has produced the first mRNA Covid vaccine made in Africa using Moderna's sequence.

The world panicked late last year following the outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant which led at its peak to four times more daily infections than previous waves.

But after the surge which lasted for three-and-a-half months, the average number of global daily cases dropped for a second week in a row, receding by 17 percent, according to an AFP tally on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a new study by the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the efficacy of third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines wanes substantially by the fourth month after administration.

Though it's now well documented that vaccine efficacy goes down after two doses, relatively little has been published on the duration of protection after a booster.

During the Omicron-predominant period, vaccine efficacy against Covid-associated emergency department or urgent care visits was 87 percent during the two months after a third dose, but fell to 66 percent by the fourth month. 

Vaccine efficacy against hospitalization was 91 percent in the first two months, but fell to 78 percent by the fourth month after a third dose.

The study said more research are needed to determine the efficacy of boosters.