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Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) health emergencies program, said there is “no guarantee” that a coronavirus vaccine will be found.
Even if a vaccine were developed, there would be “a lot of work to do” to implement it around the world, he told the Global Ireland conference on Wednesday.
“The problem will be to increase the production of that vaccine,” he said.
“It would be a terrible situation if we saw that highly vulnerable people in developing countries do not receive the vaccine, and people who would not otherwise be greatly affected by it. [in wealthy countries] receiving two doses. “
Dr Ryan addressed a remote conference of Irish ambassadors and diplomats, hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday.
“We hope to get a vaccine, that is not a guarantee, and even when we do, there is still a lot of work to do, and I think we can do a lot now to drive and control this virus, and we really need to step up our efforts to do that.” said.
Meanwhile, Acting Medical Director Ronan Glynn told the conference that changes in public health measures to add “nuance” between different parts of the country in response to Covid-19 would inevitably “lead to confusion” among the public.
Dr Glynn said it was “unfortunate” that the government’s six-month plan to Live with Covid-19 was published on Tuesday, at a time when “the trajectory of the virus was changing” in Dublin.
Opposition parties have criticized the confusion created around the government’s new five-tier plan. The entire country has been placed on Level 2, although Dublin has a number of additional conditions due to the large number of coronavirus cases in the capital.
Dr. Glynn said that as the country’s response to Covid-19 became more nuanced and proportionate, that would “create confusion” among the public. He had become “increasingly concerned” that tighter local restrictions in Dublin would lead to detours elsewhere. “There is always a concern if the focus is more on one county, leading people in other counties to think they are okay,” he said.
“We are seeing worrying trends in many counties around the country; Limerick, Waterford, Louth have seen significant increases in cases. Dublin is in a more dire situation … The last thing we want is for other counties to end up in the same situation as Dublin, ”he said.
Referring to the new public health measures applying to Dublin, which has seen a steady increase in cases recently, Dr Glynn said: “In my opinion the message is very clear, we just don’t want it mixed with more of one house.
“We are asking people, and this is the nuance, this is proportionality, if possible to avoid traveling outside of Dublin for the next few weeks,” he said.
As part of the Government’s medium-term plan for the pandemic, a new oversight committee has been created to filter the recommendations made by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to Cabinet.
The new committee, to be chaired by Government Secretary General Martin Fraser, aims to balance NPHET’s public health advice with other economic and social implications.
Dr. Glynn said there was “regularly a conflict” over public health councils, and while NPHET made recommendations, it was the Cabinet that had to make decisions.
“The plan and the structures that have been put in place are an effort to rebalance and look at public health in combination with some other considerations,” he said.
“That said, from my perspective as we face the next few weeks, and the challenges that appear to be on the horizon, public health will be preeminent,” added Dr. Glynn.
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