The global coronavirus death toll could hit two million before an effective vaccine is widely used, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
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Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO's emergencies head, said the figure could be higher without concerted international action.
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Almost one million people have died with COVID-19 worldwide since the disease first emerged in China late last year.
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“Unless we do it all, (2 million deaths) … is not only imaginable, but sadly very likely,” Mike Ryan, head of the UN agency’s emergencies program, told a briefing on Friday.
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The number of deaths about nine months since the novel coronavirus was discovered in China is nearing 1 million.
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The WHO is continuing talks with China about its possible involvement in the COVAX financing scheme designed to guarantee fast and equitable access globally to COVID-19 vaccines, a week after the deadline for committing passed.
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Earlier on Friday, a Chinese health official said the WHO had given its support for the country to start administering experimental coronavirus vaccines to people even while clinical trials were still underway.
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