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GENEVA: The promise of Covid-19 vaccines is “phenomenal” and “potentially revolutionary,” Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization regional director for Europe, said in a briefing on Thursday.
Speaking from Copenhagen, he said supplies were expected to be very limited in the early stages and countries must decide who gets priority, although the WHO said there is a “growing consensus” that the first recipients should be older people, workers doctors and people with morbidities.
Britain approved Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, ahead of the rest of the world in the race to start the most crucial mass inoculation program in history.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson touted the green light from the British medical authority as a global victory, while acknowledging the logistical challenges of vaccinating an entire country of 67 million.
Regulators in the US and the EU are examining the same Pfizer vaccine test data, but have not yet given approval.
The WHO said Wednesday it had received data from Pfizer and BioNTech on the vaccine and was reviewing it for “possible listing for emergency use,” a benchmark for countries to authorize national use.
