Brasilia World Health Organization Emergency Director Mike Ryan on Wednesday refuted statements made by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would be welcome and that it could indeed bring about the end of the epidemic.
In an interview before, Bolsonaro played down the advance of the new variant in Brazil.
During a news conference in Geneva, when asked about the statements made by the Brazilian chairman, Ryan affirmed that while Omicron is”less severe as a viral infection in an individual, that does not mean it’s a mild complaint There are numerous people around the world in hospitals, in ICUs, heaving for breath, which”obviously makes veritably clear that this isn’t a mild complaint,”he added.”
It’s a vaccine-preventable complaint, it’s a complaint that can be averted by taking-to a lesser extent-strong particular preventives to avoid infection and getting vaccinated,”he said There’s so much we can do. This isn’t the time to give up, this isn’t the time to give in, this isn’t the time to declare that this is a welcome contagion. No contagion is welcome that kills people. Especially when that mortality and that suffering is preventable with the applicable use of vaccination,”he said.