GENEVA — A senior World Health Organization official said on Tuesday that high levels of transmission of the coronavirus among unvaccinated people, such as in North Korea, creates a higher risk of new variants.
“Certainly it’s worrying if countries … are not using the tools that are now available,” said WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan in response to a question about the outbreak in North Korea.
“WHO has repeatedly said that where you have unchecked transmission, there is always a higher risk of new variants emerging,” he said.
—Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Miranda Murray
