Don’t wait for the first COVID-19 vaccines until early 2021: WHO’s Ryan

GENEVA / ZURICH (Reuters) – Researchers are making “good progress” in developing COVID-19 vaccines, with a handful of late-stage trials, but their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, an expert The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

The WHO is working to ensure an equitable distribution of the vaccines, but in the meantime, it is key to suppressing the spread of the virus, said Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergency program, as new daily cases around the world are at almost record levels.

“We are making good progress,” Ryan said, noting that several vaccines were now in phase 3 trials and none had so far failed in terms of safety or ability to elicit an immune response.

“Realistically, it will be the first part of next year before we start to see people get vaccinated,” he said at a public event on social media.

WHO was working to expand access to potential vaccines and help increase production capacity, Ryan said.

“And we must be fair about this, because this is a global good. Vaccines for this pandemic are not for the rich, they are not for the poor, they are for everyone, “he said.

The US government will pay $ 1.95 billion to buy 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German biotech BioNTech if it is safe and effective, the companies said.

Ryan also warned schools to be careful about reopening until the COVID-19 community broadcast is under control. The debate in the United States about restarting education has intensified, even as the pandemic breaks out in dozens of states.

“We have to do everything we can to get our children back to school, and the most effective thing we can do is stop the disease in our community,” he said. “Because if you control the disease in the community, you can open schools.”