Reflecting on tomorrow’s two-year anniversary (11 March) since the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic, Jenny Ottenhoff, ONE’s Senior Policy Director, said:

“While the eyes of the world are on the escalating tragedy in Ukraine, today’s milestone should be a reminder that we are still caught up in a global pandemic that has claimed over 6 million lives and continues to threaten people everywhere.

“Two years after the WHO declared a global pandemic, world leaders are still failing to take the steps needed to end the threat of COVID-19 and the economic crisis it sparked once and for all. The convergence of the Ukraine crisis and emerging variants like BA.2 are making the path to recovery even more fragile – especially as millions of people remain unprotected.”

“The bottom line is that we still need to get more shots in arms and address the chronic underfunding that has undermined the global response to date. It’s tempting to think that the worst is behind us, but turning away from COVID and the threat it poses to people’s lives and livelihoods now would be shortsighted and self defeating. We’ve been here before and we failed to finish the job – leaders must stay the course and make sure this recovery takes hold.”