WHO: Stay alert even with the COVID-19 vaccine about to be released

SIGN OF HOPE Expectations are high following Britain’s approval on Wednesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for general use. —REUTERS

GENEVA – World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Friday warned governments and citizens not to lower their guard against the COVID-19 pandemic even with vaccines about to be launched, saying healthcare systems could still yield under pressure.

“Progress in vaccines encourages us all and now we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva.

“However, the WHO is concerned that there is a growing perception that the COVID-19 pandemic is over,” added Tedros.

He said that decisions made by citizens and governments would determine the course of the pandemic and when it would end.

“We know that it has been a difficult year and that people are tired, but in hospitals that are operating at peak or above capacity, it is as difficult as possible,” Tedros said.

WHO’s leading emergency expert, Mike Ryan, also warned against complacency after a vaccine was launched.

“Vaccines do not equal zero COVID,” he said. “Vaccination will add an important, important and powerful tool to the set of tools that we have. But by themselves, they won’t do the job. “

Ryan added that not everyone will be able to get a vaccine early next year.

He said some countries would have to maintain very strong control measures for some time or risk a “blowout” in the cases, and a yo-yo of the pandemic.

“We are at a crucial moment in some countries. There are health systems in some countries on the brink of collapse, ”said Tedros, without referring to specific countries.

The coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, a year ago. Since then, more than 65 million people have been reported to be infected and nearly 1.5 million have died worldwide.

The arrival of a vaccine should cause deaths to drop “significantly” early next year, British chief medical officers said.

But they also warned that social mixing around Christmas could cause another spike before then.

Pressure

Britain became the first Western country on Wednesday to approve a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for general use, putting pressure on other countries to quickly follow suit.

Moscow began vaccinating workers at 70 coronavirus vaccination centers in the Russian capital on Saturday.

Russia was one of the first countries to announce the development of its Sputnik V vaccine, dubbed after the Soviet-era satellite, in August, but before beginning the final clinical trials that are currently underway, with the participation of some 40,000 volunteers.

Health officials reported 28,782 new infections on Saturday, bringing the national total to 2,431,731 cases since the start of the pandemic in Russia, which had the fourth-highest number of cases in the world.

Green light

The United States is expected to give the green light later this month after recording a record 225,000 new infections.

Two promising vaccines could soon receive emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration, and some 20 million Americans could be vaccinated this year, helping stem the tide of the virus in the nation further. affected of the world.

With the imminent arrival of vaccines that need ultra-low-temperature storage, American companies are preparing for a massive logistical effort to aid their distribution.

Insulated container companies are up in arms after Pfizer-BioNTech said its vaccine should be stored at -70 degrees Celsius.

Meat-processing giant Smithfield said it was ready to make cold rooms at its slaughterhouses available for deployment operations.

The US logistics giant UPS is producing 500 kilograms of dry ice per hour in its warehouses and has developed portable freezers capable of storing vaccines at temperatures as low as -80 degrees Celsius.

‘End of acute phase’

WHO has supported the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) program, which seeks to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines and has seen 189 countries join to date.

The organization’s chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, said she expected 500 million doses of vaccines to be available for distribution through the Covax scheme in the first quarter of 2021, with an initial plan to vaccinate 20 percent of populations. most at risk, including healthcare workers and people over 65.

“The goal is to get at least 2 billion doses [the] by the end of 2021, which will be enough to vaccinate 20 percent of the population of the countries that are part of Covax, ”said Swaminathan.

This would be enough to “end the acute phase of the pandemic” by reducing mortality and the impact on health systems, he said.

Covax is co-led by the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, WHO and the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness.

The United States has not joined the scheme.

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