Gulf News

UP TO 180,000 HEALTH WORKERS DEAD FROM COVID

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The WHO has said that 80,000 to 180,000 health care workers may have been killed by Covid-19 up to May this year, insisting they must be prioritise­d for vaccinatio­n.

The WHO said the fact that millions of health workers remain unvaccinat­ed is an “indictment” on the countries and companies controllin­g the global supply of doses.

A WHO paper estimated that out of the planet’s 135 million health staff, “between 80,000 to 180,000 health and care workers could have died from Covid-19 in the period between January 2020 to May 2021”. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu­s said health care workers needed to be among the first immunised against the disease, as he slammed the global inequity in the vaccine roll-out.

“Data from 119 countries suggest that on average, two in five health and care workers globally are fully vaccinated. But of course, that average masks huge difference­s,” he said. “In Africa, less than in one in 10 health workers have been

fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, in most high-income countries, more than 80 per cent of health workers are fully vaccinated.”

He added: “We call on all countries to ensure that all health and care workers in every country are prioritise­d for Covid-19 vaccines, alongside other at-risk groups.”

Annette Kennedy, president of the Internatio­nal Council of Nurses, said the organisati­on grieved for all health care workers who had lost their lives in the pandemic — “many needlessly; many we could have saved”. Kennedy warned: “They are now burnt out and devastated.”

 ?? Reuters ?? A medical specialist works in the ICU of the City Clinical Hospital Number 52, where people suffering from Covid-19 are treated in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday.
Reuters A medical specialist works in the ICU of the City Clinical Hospital Number 52, where people suffering from Covid-19 are treated in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday.

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