"The effectiveness of vaccines gives us hope, but that is no excuse to relax and put ourselves and our loved ones at risk," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned at a press conference.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for "the strengthening of basic sanitary measures that are being achieved in many countries to control the virus".

"There are those who defend the idea that the virus only reaches the elderly and that with vaccines already on the horizon we can relax, but Covid-19 also reaches children or adults and can attack any system of the body, that is why there are many people who suffer long-term consequences", he warned.

The WHO Director-General added that "the vaccines will help end the pandemic, but the effects of Covid-19 will be felt in the coming years," considering that the health crisis "has exacerbated the planet's vulnerabilities and inequalities.