WHO thanks Egypt star Mo Salah for boosting Covid-19 vaccine campaign

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has thanked Egypt and Liverpool star Mo Salah for his support in urging the public to come forward and take the Covid-19 vaccine.

WHO Director-General Dr Tadros Adhanom tweeted a photo of Mo Salah on Friday quoting the Egyptian star during an Arabic-language interview on MBC.

"There are doctors who have been studying and working on medicine for years. If I said vaccinations are wrong, it would be like random people on the street telling me how to play football. If the World Health Organisation say it's the right things to do, we must follow them," the Liverpool forward said.

Thank you @MoSalah for your words of support. Vaccines work to save lives, including against #COVID19. We hope the world will team up to vaccinate people at highest risk everywhere! #VaccinEquity pic.twitter.com/29oAWEYq2y

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 10, 2021

Adhanom praised Salah's remarks, which comes amid reticence from some people to take the  Covid-19 vaccine.

"Thank you Mo Salah for your words of support. Vaccines work to save lives, including against Covid-19. We hope the world will team up to vaccinate people at highest risk everywhere," he said.

Amro Ali, professor of sociology at the American University of Cairo, said Salah's remarks will likely be a big boost for the campaign to vaccinate the public in Egypt and the UK. 

"This is going to have a tremendous effect by swaying many in Egypt (and even abroad) who were hesitant to take the vaccine to now consider taking it," he said.

During his interview with MBC journalist Amr Adib, Mo Salah opened up about his experience catching Covid-19 in November 2020, saying he may have contracted the virus after attending his brother's wedding.

"It was ok. I lost my taste and smell for a couple of days and after that I was ok. I have been vaccinated," he said. 

Egypt has administered 44 million doses of Covid vaccines so far, enough to inoculate approximately 21.9 percent of the population, according to the latest figures from the WHO. 

Only 10 percent of people in Africa have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, far below the 64 percent that are vaccinated in North America and 62 percent in Europe.