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Coronavirus: Even vaccines for all the world’s vulnerable are no guarantee of a ‘silver bullet’, says WHO
The World Health Organization said that high-risk populations in all countries could receive the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2021, but the vaccine is “not a silver bullet” to solve the global pandemic. Takeshi Kasai, the global health agency regional director for the Western Pacific, said Thursday that the launch of the vaccine for most of the region would likely occur in mid to late 2021, but that the vaccines would initially be available in large quantities. Limited and high-risk groups should be a priority. The appropriate scale and type of investment is made, by the end of 2021, next year, the appropriate doses must be had to vaccinate a high-priority population in all the countries of the world, ”he said. “For others, beyond the high-risk groups, we may be waiting another 12 to 24 months before most people have received this vaccine, and even then, there is some uncertainty and unknowns.” Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the great stories originating from China. The WHO has said that people over the age of 60 and those with underlying health conditions are considered high risk. Health workers and essential workers are seen as priority groups for vaccination. While Kasai said the news about the first vaccine launches in Britain and the United States was “very promising,” he cautioned that developing safe vaccines was different from producing them in large quantities. enough to reach everyone. “There is some light at the end of a long tunnel, but these vaccines are not a silver bullet that will end the pandemic in the near future,” he said. “This means that, tired as we are all of this pandemic, we must adhere to the actions and behaviors that protect not only ourselves but also those around us: washing hands, wearing masks, physical distancing and avoiding places that are at high risk of transmission. “How UNICEF prepares for the challenge of distributing Covid-19 vaccines As coronavirus cases worldwide have reached nearly 72 million, including 1.6 million deaths , the world has eagerly awaited the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines. Britain was the first to approve a vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech and America’s Pfizer, with the first doses delivered to people in Britain, the United States and Canada in recent days. China has obtained 100 million doses of the BioNTech vaccine by the end of 2021, enough to cover 50 million people with the required two injections of the vaccine based on MRNA. According to the phase 3 study of the vaccine, it was found to be 95 percent effective against Covid-19 compared to a placebo. Chinese officials previously said China planned to have 600 million doses of inactivated Covid-19 vaccines ready for delivery. Market launch by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain approved China’s Sinopharm vaccine after trials showed it to be 86% effective, though experts have raised concerns that full trial data has not been made public. to ensure fair and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, including through the global Covax Facility scheme that aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of next year for people in the poorest countries. But Reuters reported Wednesday night that an internal report from the Gavi board, which Covax leads with the WHO, said “the risk of not establishing a successful Covax facility is very high.” Coronavirus: The cold and harsh challenge of vaccine delivery Babatunde Olowokure, WHO’s regional emergency director, said on Thursday that mass vaccinations will not yet stop the virus and that public health interventions, including social distancing and use of masks, will continue to be part of the ‘new’ Since various places in the region, such as Hong Kong, had reported increases in cases and localized transmission in the community, he said there was a need for a ‘decisive localized response that in the tests, the isolation of cases, the tracing of contacts, as well as the quarantine ”. As Hong Kong struggles with its fourth wave, CEO Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said a deal had been reached to secure 15 million injections of Covid-19 vaccines, with the first batch of 1 million from mainland supplier Sinovac La. biotech will arrive in January, followed by another million BioNTechs by the first quarter of 2021. The vaccine from British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca is expected to deliver 7.5 million n injections by the second half of next year at the earliest. Olowokure added that the international WHO delegation in China is likely to visit the country in early January, following earlier protests by Beijing against calls for an independent investigation into the virus in China and criticism of More Information from South China. Morning Post: * Coronavirus: US healthcare worker has severe allergic reaction after receiving Pfizer vaccine * Donald Trump rejects plan for early Covid-19 vaccine in White House * UN chief, Antonio Guterres, asks for coordination on vaccines against the coronavirus * WHO against the mandatory nature of the coronavirus vaccineThis article Coronavirus: even vaccines for all the vulnerable in the world are not a guarantee of a ‘silver bullet’, says the WHO appeared for the first time on South China Morning Post our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
