The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the eastern Mediterranean Region is witnessing an increase in the daily COVID-19 infections because of various factors, including the detection of the Delta variant in 13 out of the 22 countries.
Ahmed Al-Mandhari, regional director of the WHO said during a virtual conference that infections have been on rise in the region after two months of steady decline, stressing that the case surge came as a result of increased international travel, low protection and limited vaccination.
"Another spike is likely in the summer months as countries struggle to keep their borders open and their economies active," he noted.
"Despite efforts to contain the virus, a higher weekly average of new cases has been reported across the region compared to the same time last year."
Al-Mandhari said the Delta variant has been detected in at least 98 countries around the world, including 13 countries in the region.
He urged countries to improve their sequencing capacity and data sharing to enable better understanding of the virus.
Al-Mandhari said more than 500 million vaccine doses are still needed to vaccinate at least 40% of the population of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region by the end of 2021.
“We are far, far behind from reaching this goal,” he warned, adding that misinformation about vaccine efficacy and the virus have deepened vaccine hesitancy in the region.
For his part the Director of the Department of Universal Health Coverage at the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean said all vaccines approved by the World Health Organization are effective against the Delta variant.
