Ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday, the head of the National Executive Vaccine Committee, Petra Khoury, warned that Lebanon cannot absorb another COVID-19 wave.
Quoting CDC Director Dr. Walensky, Khoury said, “This is becoming a ‘Pandemic of the unvaccinated’,” adding that 98.6% of current COVID-19 cases are among unvaccinated people.
“We will see again more hospitalizations and deaths,” she said. She stated that the health care system is currently on the brink and cannot absorb another wave of infections.
Khoury urged people to continue to wear masks until fully vaccinated, noting that vaccination remains the most powerful tool to limit the surge.
The head of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), Firass Abiad, said that Lebanon had already entered a new COVID-19 wave.
1/4 Let us be honest, we are in a new Covid wave. How bad will it be will depend on the rate of hospitalization. Our low vaccination rate does not bode well. Furthermore, hospitals are less prepared than before, and people are drained financially, physically, and mentally.
— Firass Abiad (@firassabiad) July 17, 2021
He warned that there was no strategy from the authorities on how to deal with it, criticizing the lack of action towards a daily influx of positive COVID-19 cases entering the country through the airport.
“As we approach the first anniversary of the Beirut Blast, our response to the pandemic is proving to be no less negligent. After thousands of Covid deaths, we enter a new wave ill-prepared. This Eid will not bring good returns,” Abiad warned.
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