Reuters, WHO senior adviser Bruce Aylward warned that richer nations must not step back from tackling Covid-19 as a global problem now, ahead of future potential waves of infection.
Aylward co-ordinates the ACT-Accelerator, a partnership between WHO and other global health bodies to help poorer countries access COVID-19 tools.
The effort, which includes the vaccine-focused COVAX, has reached billions of people worldwide but has faced criticism for not acting quickly enough.
Earlier on 15 September, as the number of weekly reported deaths from Covid-19 plunged to its lowest since March 2020, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the end of the pandemic is now in sight. Also Read: COVID is here to stay…: Experts on dealing with coronavirus' new normal However, he also warned that if the world does not take the opportunity now, there is still a risk of more variants, deaths, disruption, and uncertainty. Also Read: Covid likely to increase risk of diabetes in children: Study Prior to that, in a interview, US President Joe Biden declared that "the pandemic is over." "When I hear them say, 'Well, we're so comfortable here,' it's like, 'Great, now you can really help us get the rest of the world done'," said Aylward.