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Even the appearance of an effective vaccine against the coronavirus will not allow a return to “normality” in the spring, a group of researchers warns.
Considered as the Holy Grail that will allow ending the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of an effective vaccine must be faced with “realistic expectations,” warns a group of researchers.
In a published report, the group of experts assembled by the Royal Society of London, the oldest academy dedicated to the promotion of scientific knowledge (founded in 1660), warns that we must be cautious about what a vaccine can actually achieve and when.
“A vaccine offers great hope of ending the pandemic, but we know that the history of vaccine development is fraught with many failures,” said Fiona Culley, from the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, who is part of this panel of experts gathered in a group called the DELVE Initiative – and which includes the Portuguese Vasco Carvalho, professor of macroeconomics at the University of Cambridge.
For these researchers, it may be necessary to “gradually lift” existing restrictions in different countries, as it can take up to a year to launch the vaccine on a large scale.
The Royal Society report now published warns that this will be a long process. “Even when the vaccine is available, it does not mean that within a month everyone will be vaccinated. We are talking about a period of at least six to nine months … maybe a year.”Nilay Shah, head of chemical engineering at Imperial College London, was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“It is not about life suddenly returning to normal in March,” he stressed.
The report of this group of experts highlights the “enormous challenges” that lie ahead to overcome this pandemic.
For example, the fact that some of the experimental approaches adopted, such as RNA vaccines [ácido ribonucleico] – have never been mass produced before.
Or doubts about the quantity and quality of the raw materials available -both for the vaccine and for its packaging-, the refrigeration capacity, some vaccines having to be stored at negative 80 ºC, the administration of one or more doses, the duration of immunity conferred by the vaccine, among other issues.
“We just don’t know when an effective vaccine will be available, how effective it will be and, of course, crucially, how quickly it can be delivered,” says Professor Charles Bangham, director of immunology at Imperial College London.
“Clearly, the vaccine has been portrayed as a silver bullet and will ultimately be our lifeline, but this may not be an immediate process,” sums up Andrew Preston of the University of Bath, quoted by the BBC.
More than 200 vaccines are currently being developed around the world for the prevention of covid-19.
