‘This pandemic is far from over’

The WORLD HEALTH Organization’s special envoy for Covid-19 has told the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee that the pandemic “is not near the end.”

David Nabarro spoke at a committee meeting that focused on discussing access to vaccines for low-income countries.

Nabarro said he would not say that rich countries are “stockpiling” vaccines because there is currently a shortage, but there are certainly “huge demands” on manufacturers to fulfill their orders.

He said that while infection rates may currently be declining in Europe, this was not the global experience.

“This pandemic is far from over. I want to repeat, this is not near the end. And some people say, well, there is light at the end of the tunnel. But from my point of view, I’m not sure how far that light is, ”Nabarro told the Committee.

He said that Covid-19 is a “new virus” and that both the virus itself and the response of society will change, “so adaptation will be continuous.”

Right now, we are in a phase where the incidence of new reported Covid cases in Europe has decreased, especially since the beginning of January. This is very welcome news. But why has it gone into decline? Due to an extraordinary effort by the people of Europe, and indeed more and more of the people of North America, to take this virus really seriously.

Speaking about access to vaccines around the world, Nabarrro said the WHO is clear in its view that the priority order for vaccines should start with “healthcare workers, older people and people with comorbidities, wherever they are. be “.

He said access to the vaccine “should not be based on geographic location or nationality” and that “countries with a replacement vaccine should be giving that replacement vaccine to COVAX immediately.”

COVAX is the WHO program that seeks to guarantee equitable access to vaccines.

The key question is, what is left over? The question that other colleagues and I ask ourselves at this point is, given the current availability of vaccines, should any country be planning to vaccinate or vaccinate all of its adults against Covid? Or should they vaccinate the groups at risk and then share the rest with Covax?

The deputies also asked Nabarro about the possible use of Russian vaccines by Western countries.

Last week, top findings published in The Lancet found that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine could be 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19.

The Sputnik-V vaccine is developed by Russia’s state research institute Gamaleya, and Nabarro said this morning that they have been “very cooperative” in providing data.

“The WHO has had a series of exchanges with the manufacturers of the Russian vaccine, the Gamaleya company, and they continue to request from the very cooperative Russian manufacturers all the data that is needed for an emergency use authorization,” he said.

Nabarro added that national governments seek the certification of “good manufacturing practices”

“From Gamaleya and Sputnik V, the correct answer is to say that it is a work in progress, which is obviously being done as quickly as possible, while at the same time maintaining quality assurance, safety and efficacy requirements.”