The World Health Organisation hopes the coronavirus crisis can be over in less than two years faster than it took for the 1918 Spanish flu. “In our situation now with more technology, and of course with more connectiveness, the virus has a better chance of spreading, it can move fast because we are more connected now,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing in Geneva. “But at the same time we have also the technology to stop it and the knowledge to stop it. So we have a disadvantage of globalisation, closeness, connectedness but an advantage of better technology.” “So we hope to finish this pandemic in less than two years,” he said, urging national unity and global solidarity. “That is really key with utilising the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools like vaccine.” “A vaccine will be a vital tool, and we hope that we will have one as soon as possible. But there’s no guarantee that we will, and even if we do have a vaccine, it won’t end the pandemic on its own.” He said the people need to learn to control and manage the virus using the tools they have “and to make the adjustments to our daily lives that are needed to keep ourselves and each other safe.” “The pandemic is a reminder that health and the economy are inseparable,” the UN health agency chief said, adding that the WHO would work with all countries to move to a new stage of opening their economies, societies, schools, and businesses safely. “To do that, every single person must be involved. Every single person can make a difference. Every person, family, community, and nation must make their own decisions, based on the level of risk they live in.”