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The WHO has warned the world several times during 2020 that the coronavirus could remain.
The head of the WHO crisis program, Dr. Mark Ryan, is also aware that the pandemic the world has experienced in 2020 will not be the last, and warns that the next one could get worse, writes The Guardian.
– This pandemic has been serious. It has touched every corner of the planet. But this isn’t necessarily the biggest, Ryan says, continuing:
– This is an awakening. Now we are learning to do things better: science, logistics, practice and management, how to communicate better. But this planet is vulnerable.
HEAVY: Spanish health workers mourning during a funeral for a colleague who died from the coronavirus in April. Photo: Susana Vera / Reuters / NTB
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Persistent threat
The WHO doctor notes that, among other things, the complex global community we now live in helps make us more vulnerable to viruses.
– These threats will continue to be there. If we must take something away from this pandemic, with all its tragedy and loss, it is that we must cooperate, he concludes.
At their roundup meeting at the end of the year that turned the world upside down, some of the organization’s top experts reiterated the message that a vaccine is unlikely to lead to the end of COVID-19 in the world.
– This will be the holidays in 2021
It will be endemic
Professor David Haymann, who heads the WHO group for strategic advice against infectious diseases, tells The Guardian that the virus is destined to become endemic.
– It seems that the fate of SARS-CoV-2 is to become endemic, the same as it has happened with four other coronaviruses, and it will continue to mutate as it reproduces in human cells. Especially in areas where there has been a lot of infection.
However, Haymann is aware that the world will not have to live like 2020 forever.
– Fortunately, we have tools to save lives, and in combination with good public health, this will teach us how to live with covid-19, he says.
VULNERABLE: WHO notes that the global community is highly vulnerable to pandemics and that the virus spreads easily to all corners of the world. Photo: Michael Probst / AP / NTB
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Unsecured vaccine
Dr. Mark Ryan believes that the coronavirus will remain an imminent threat, even with vaccines in place.
– The most likely scenario is that the virus will become a new endemic virus that will remain a threat to some extent. But a low-level threat given an effective global vaccination program, Ryan says.
– It remains to be seen how well vaccines are taken, and how closely we achieve coverage that gives us a chance to eliminate it. The existence of a vaccine, even with high efficacy, is not a guarantee of eliminating or eradicating an infectious disease.
Just before Christmas, the corona vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech was approved in the EU, and already on Sunday the first step was taken towards a nursing home in Oslo. The vaccine has been shown to be effective in preventing the development of serious diseases, but it remains to be seen whether the vaccines will prevent the spread of the virus.
WILL BE: WHO experts believe that a vaccine will not be the end of the coronavirus and that we must learn to live with it. However, they believe that the vaccine can prevent people from getting seriously ill. Photo: Pedro Nunes / Reuters / NTB
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Several other corona vaccines are in development and EU approval of, among other things, the Moderna vaccine is expected to be just around the corner. The vaccine has already been used in the United States after an emergency approval.
“I don’t think we have evidence that any of the vaccines prevents people from actually getting infected and infecting others more,” said WHO chief investigator Soumya Swaminathan.
