Is It the End of the COVID-19 Global Public Health Emergency?

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a part of our daily lives since its inception towards the latter part of 2019. The global journey throughout the pandemic has been one of numerous steps in progression and steps in regression and can be described as a roller-coaster like ride. Phase 4 of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is currently affecting the majority of the world's population. Phase 4 entails planning for future pandemics and outbreaks and making investments in infrastructure development and more research. The most effective tool being used to contain and eventually stop the global pandemic is the ongoing global COVID-19 vaccination programmes and the booster doses provided therein. According to the WHO the total weekly COVID cases have been decreasing on a constant scale with the latest (8 of June 2023) reported a weekly update depicting a deficit of 300,000 cases (an 38% reduction from the previous weekly statistics). In contrast to the positive direction of movement of COVID cases on a generalized basis, The United Kingdom’s cases seem to be regressing. With the onset of new waves of infection in many countries since mid-2020 and the emergence of variants, governments are confronted to the limited ability to sequence policy action. Although the overall COVID picture is very encouraging, the world's population should not be lulled into a false sense of security because, as happened with the Omicron variant in December 2021, the world has seen firsthand what the discovery of a new variant can do to infection rates as well as the global financial and fiscal markets. The COVID-19 pandemic is in its final stages; however, a continued and orchestrated global effort is pertinent to ensuring that the pandemic is truly ended and that no unexpected flare ups occur. The development of vaccines against COVID-19 has been extraordinarily rapid, with less than one year elapsing between the sequencing of the novel viral genome and the commencement of major vaccination campaigns in different parts of the globe. The single greatest threat to truly ending this current pandemic is the premature declaration to it being over. It is now high time for the unification of the global healthcare bodies, systems, governments and key stakeholders to address the antivaccination campaigners in a unified manner in order to bring an ending to the discourse and misunderstanding between the two camps. It is only through global unification and collaboration that this era can be drawn to an end. On the 5th of May 2023 the Chief of the World health organization, fervently and with great optimism declared that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency. It was however stressed that the disease still poses a danger and that measures and cautions should still be prioritized to prevent the virus from spreading.