After six weeks of decline in January and February, cases are now increasing in most regions of the world.  Meanwhile, deaths are falling, though at a slower rate.

“These are worrying trends as we continue to see the impact of variants, opening up of societies, and inequitable vaccine rollout”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking during his regular briefing from Geneva.

More than 21.4 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were recorded as of Friday, including some 2.6 million deaths.

Keep using AstraZeneca vaccine

WHO is also urging countries to continue using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The agency’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety met this week to review data on the vaccine, after reports of blood clotting in some people who had received it.

The committee announced its conclusion on Friday that the available data do not suggest any overall increase in clotting conditions, such as deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, following administration of the vaccine.

With advice that largely echoed the crucial European Medicines Agency (EMA) report on Thursday, following the decision by many European countries to suspend use of the AstraZeneca shots, the WHO vaccine safety committee said the jabs had “tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths”.

“Reported rates of thromboembolic events after COVID-19 vaccines are in line with the expected number of diagnoses of these conditions”, the committee said in its statement.

“Both conditions occur naturally and are not uncommon. They also occur as a result of COVID-19.  The observed rates have been fewer than expected for such events.”

Tedros said the AstraZeneca vaccine is especially important because it accounts for more than 90 per cent of stocks being distributed through COVAX, the global vaccine equity initiative.