GENEVA - A senior World Health Organization official said it was "very premature" and "unrealistic" to think the COVID-19 pandemic might be completely stopped by the end of 2021, but noted that hospitalizations and deaths could be dramatically reduced with the recent arrival of effective vaccines.Dr.
Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program, said at a media briefing Monday that the world’s singular focus right now should be to keep the transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible and to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible."If we’re smart, we can finish with the hospitalizations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic" by year’s end, Ryan said.He added that WHO was reassured by emerging data.