from over,” he warned. “It will not be over anywhere until it’s over everywhere.”
Family members of Vijay Raju, who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), mourn before his cremation at a crematorium ground in Giddenahalli village on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, May 13, 2021.
Family members of Vijay Raju, who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), mourn before his cremation at a crematorium ground in Giddenahalli village on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, May 13, 2021.
Samuel Rajkumar | Reuters
The global pandemic isn’t over yet despite high Covid-19 vaccination rates in some countries, the head of the World Health Organization warned Monday, days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told fully vaccinated Americans they can go without masks in most places.

“There is a huge disconnect growing where in some countries with the highest vaccination rates, there appears to be a mindset that the pandemic is over, while others are experiencing huge waves of infections,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference from the agency’s Geneva headquarters.

“The pandemic is a long way far from over,” he warned. “It will not be over anywhere until it’s over everywhere.”

Tedros’ comments come four days after the CDC updated its public health guidance to say fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face mask or stay 6 feet away from others in most settings, whether outdoors or indoors. It’s the first time the federal government has encouraged people to stop wearing masks since the agency first called for face coverings more than a year ago.

Some doctors said the new guidelines meant that “vaccinated people can go back to normal.”