On Friday, WHO (World Health Organisation) spokeswoman Margaret Harris commented that it would be unlikely to witness widespread vaccinations against COVID-19 infection ahead of the middle of the next year period. The spokesperson stressed that it is essential to keep a rigorous check on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines.
She informed that not single vaccine (that is currently under the advanced clinical trials stage) yet has shown any clear sign of being efficient at the level of at least 50% expected by the WHO.
Last month, Russia gave regulatory approval to the use of COVID-19 vaccine in the country. Some western experts including from WHO have raised concerns over fast-tracking the authorization needed for use of the coronavirus vaccine in Russia as the approval came just after two months of human testing.
Recently, US administration also expressed that it is likely to fast track the authorization stipulated for the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine in the country, ahead of the US Presidential election of 2020. On Thursday, US public health officials and Pfizer Inc said that a vaccine for coronavirus is likely to be ready for distribution latest by October.
Margaret Harris said, “We are really not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year. This (large scale human clinical trial) phase 3 must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is”. Harris didn’t name any specific coronavirus candidate name in her statement.
She added, “All data from trials must be shared and compared. A lot of people have been vaccinated and what we don’t know is whether the vaccine works at this stage we do not have the clear signal of whether or not it has the level of worthwhile efficacy and safety”.
The WHO and GAVI vaccine has made an alliance, known as COVAX, for the global supply of coronavirus vaccine by helping countries to purchase and distribute the vaccines fairly among people. The priority of the COVAX alliance is vaccination of healthcare workers in every country.
COVAX alliance plans to deliver around 2 billion vaccines that are clearly efficient and safe to use, by the end of 2021. However, some countries like the U.S are unlikely to join this alliance and have secured their own supplies through bilateral deals with vaccine suppliers.
Harris said, “Essentially, the door is open. We are open. What the COVAX is about is making sure everybody on the planet will get access to the vaccines”.