JNJ - WHO meeting is set to decide whether to end COVID emergency

2023-05-04 14:28:34 ET

A panel of experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to meet on Thursday to discuss whether the current COVID-19 pandemic will remain a global emergency, the U.N. agency's highest alert level.

The head of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is expected to make a final decision based on the panel's advice in the coming days.

On January 30, 2020, the WHO called the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The global body's COVID-19 International Health Regulations Emergency Committee has met every three months to renew the designation ever since.

However, the outcome of the latest meeting remains uncertain even as countries such as the U.S. are fast moving away from their pandemic-era emergency declarations.

"It is possible that the emergency may end, but it is critical to communicate that COVID remains a complex public health challenge," Prof. Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist and a member of the WHO panel, said, according to Reuters . Given the confidential nature of the discussions, she refused to speculate further ahead of the meeting.

Previously, Dr. Tedros has indicated that WHO's emergency status over COVID-19 could end this year.

COVID-19 vaccine makers: Pfizer ( NYSE: PFE )/ BioNTech ( NASDAQ: BNTX ), Moderna ( NASDAQ: MRNA ), Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ), Novavax ( NVAX ), AstraZeneca ( AZN ), GSK ( GSK )/ Sanofi ( SNY ), Sinovac Biotech ( SVA ), Sinopharm Group ( OTCPK:SHTDF ) ( OTCPK:SHTDY ), CanSino Biologics ( OTCPK:CASBF ), Valneva SE ( VALN )

COVID drug makers: Gilead ( GILD ), Pfizer ( PFE ), Merck ( MRK )

Largest U.S. manufacturers of rapid COVID-19 tests: Becton, Dickinson ( BDX ), Quidel ( QDEL ), Abbott Laboratories ( NYSE: ABT ), Roche ( OTCQX:RHHBY )

More on COVID emergency

• Biden signs bill to end COVID national emergency
• WHO maintains public health emergency on COVID but sees pandemic at 'transition point'

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