WHO estimates 90% of world population has immunity to COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated on Friday (Dec. 2) that up to 90% of the world’s population now has some resistance to COVID-19 while warning that decreased surveillance could leave the door open for the evolution of new variants.

“WHO estimates that at least 90% of the world’s population now has some level of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 due to previous infection or vaccination,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.

“We are much closer to being able to say that the emergency phase of the pandemic is over – but we are not there yet.”

“Gaps in surveillance, testing, sequencing, and vaccination continue to create the perfect conditions for a new variant of concern to emerge that could cause significant mortality.”

TEDROS WARNS OF DANGEROUS NEW VARIANTS

Tedros noted that last weekend marked one year since the WHO named Omicron a so-called variant of concern.

Since then, it has swept the world, and Tedros warned that at least 500 other highly transmissible omicron variants are currently in circulation.

He said that while some infections are less severe, new variants have shown that they can evade built-up immunity.

With infections rising again in the UK and at record highs in China, the WHO is urging governments worldwide to increase efforts to protect the most vulnerable, such as those over 60 or with underlying health problems.

Last week, over 8,500 people died due to COVID-19, which Tedros says is “not acceptable after three years of the pandemic, when we have so many tools to prevent infection and save lives.”

The WHO says it has officially recorded 6.6 million deaths out of nearly 640 million cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019.

It notes, however, that this is a massive undercount that does not reflect the actual number of deaths.

WHO WELCOMES CHINA RELAXING COVID-19 RULES

China signaled this week that it might ease its strict Zero COVID approach after a week of rare and widespread anti-government protests over what citizens see as extreme government restrictions on coronavirus.

Speaking with European Union President Charles Michel on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested a change, claiming that the fact that most infections in China are of the milder omicron variant “paves the way for more openness of restrictions than we have already seen in some regions.”

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said the body was “pleased to hear that Chinese authorities are adjusting their current strategies,” striking a balance between control mechanisms and the lives of communities that have “suffered” from the country’s strict Zero COVID policies.