New variants of coronavirus could “become fully resistant to current vaccines or past infection,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), said Wednesday as he voiced concern about the spread of omicron and delta variants causing a “tsunami” of new Covid cases.

Key Facts

• New variants that emerge could “evade our countermeasures” and make current vaccines against Covid-19 or previous infections ineffective at protecting people from the virus, he said at a press conference, adding vaccines designed to tackle specific variants could be needed.  
• He said he was “highly” concerned that a “tsunami” of new cases caused by the spread of delta and omicron will put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse” and disrupt livelihoods.
• His comments came as 4.99 million new virus cases were reported globally between December 20-26, up 11% from the previous week, according to the WHO.
• As of Wednesday morning, the U.S. shattered its seven-day average of new infections, which totaled around 282,000, surpassing the previous record set in January, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
• Repeating his previous statement, the WHO chief said, “Ending health inequity” is crucial to ending the pandemic.

Big Number

92. That’s the number of WHO member countries that missed the agency’s 40% target to get their populations vaccinated by the end of this year. The WHO has 194 member countries. The WHO chief said nearly half of its member nations missed the target due to a “combination of limited supply going to low-income countries” and “vaccines arriving close to expiry and without key parts” such as syringes.

Key Background

The WHO has warned “blanket” vaccine booster shot programs could drag out the pandemic by allowing the virus to continue to spread and possibly cause mutations in countries with low vaccination rates. Wealthy countries are urging their citizens to receive booster shots, and last week Israel became the first country to greenlight a fourth dose. At Wednesday’s press conference, the WHO chief called on governments to make it their “new year’s resolution” to support the agency’s campaign to vaccinate 70% of the population in every country by the beginning of July 2022.