WHO is working to expand access to potential vaccines, said Mike Ryan. (Representative)
GENEVA / ZURICH:
Researchers are making “good progress” in developing COVID-19 vaccines, with a handful of late stage trials, but their first use can only be expected in early 2021, an expert from World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO is working to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, but in the meantime stopping the spread of the virus is critical, said Mike Ryan, WHO’s emergency program chief, as the new cases dailies around the world are at near record highs.
“We are making good progress,” said Ryan, noting that several vaccines were currently in phase 3 and none had failed, so far, in terms of safety or the ability to generate an immune response.
“In fact, it will be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated,” he said at a public event on social media.
WHO is working to expand access to potential vaccines and help increase production capacity, Ryan said.
“And we have to be fair about it, because it is a global good. The vaccines against this pandemic are not for the rich, they are not for the poor, they are for everyone,” he said. he declares.
The U.S. government will pay $ 1.95 billion to purchase 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German biotech BioNTech if it proves safe and effective, the companies said.
Ryan also warned schools to be careful of reopening until community transmission of COVID-19 is under control. The debate in the United States over restarting education has intensified, even as the pandemic erupts in dozens of states.
“We have to do everything to get our children back to school, and the most effective thing we can do is to stop the disease in our community,” he said. “Because if you control the disease in the community, you can open the schools.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
