Global eradication of Covid ‘not a reasonable target’, says World Health Organisation expert

‘This virus isn’t going away any time soon,’ Dr David Nabarro says

The global eradication of Covid-19 is not currently a “reasonable target”, according to an expert from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Dr David Nabarro, the WHO’s special envoy on Covid-19, said the virus “isn’t going away any time soon”.

“Humanity is going to have to learn how to co-exist with this virus, preventing it from spiking and then surging and causing hotspots of disease,” Dr Nabarro told the Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme on Sky News.

“We’re going to have to be able to do this for the foreseeable future.

“Eradication is not currently a reasonable target for the world.

“Each time there is a sudden surge, it does stimulate in one’s mind the thought that there might be a new variant appearing. That wouldn’t be surprising.”

This would be “the pattern for the future”, he added.

Another expert, the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, echoed his comments on Sunday, saying: “In the end, we’re going to have to ... live with this virus.”

Dame Anne Johnson, who is also an infectious disease epidemiology professor at University College London, told the same Sky News programme the aim will be to “minimise the amount of severe disease” Covid-19 causes.

Last month, a report said no one was safe “untill all of us are safe” as it put forward recommendations to get the world vaccinated against coronavirus as quickly as possible.

“The only way to protect the whole world from a mutating virus that is still growing exponentially is to achieve vaccination at scale,” the report by the Global Health Security Consortium – which includes the Tony Blair Institute – said.

“Until that point there remains a significant risk of new mutant strains emerging that are more transmissible and potentially resistant to vaccines.”

The spread of the the Delta variant of coronavirus – first detected in India – has sparked concern in the UK, with health officials warning it may lead to an increased risk in hospitalisation.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said on Sunday it is believed to be 40 per cent more transmissible than the country’s other existing variants and its heightened infectiousness makes “life more challenging for everybody”.

Additional reporting by PA