A former chief scientific adviser to the British government has said that COVID-19 is likely to last forever, and that regular vaccination is needed to contain the coronavirus and prevent it from spreading.
“This is a virus that will forever be in one form or another with us, and that will almost certainly require repeated vaccinations,” Sir Mark Walport told the BBC in an interview Saturday. “That people, just like flu, will need regular re-vaccination.”
Unlike diseases such as smallpox, “which could be removed by vaccination,” Walport said the new coronavirus was more than a flu, requiring people around the world to be vaccinated “at regular intervals.”
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Walport did not refer to the ongoing global pandemic, but rather that the virus remains a recurring problem, even after the pandemic itself has been brought under control.
His remarks came a day after remarks by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the pandemic could pass in two years. Note the Spanish flu lasted from 1918 to 1920.
Walport, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, claims that the world’s population is now much larger and that darker living conditions and increased travel can more easily spread the virus.
He also expressed concern about rising levels of infection in Europe and elsewhere in the world, warning that the pandemic could once again “get out of control”.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, speaks at a news conference on updates on the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (Salvatore Di Nolfi / Keystone via AP, file)
In his remarks Friday, Tedros sought to make a favorable comparison with the infamous 1918 flu pandemic.
“We have a disadvantage of globalization, proximity, connectivity, but an advantage of better technology, so we hope to end this pandemic in less than two years,” he told reporters.
By “using the maximum tools and hoping we can have extra tools like faxes, I think we can finish it in less time than the 1918 flu,” he said.
Ghebreyesus also called on countries last week to participate in the World Health Organization’s Worldwide Shared Vaccine Program,
“The fastest way to end this pandemic and reopen economies is to start protecting the highest risk populations everywhere, instead of the entire populations of just some countries,” he told a virtual press conference.
On Saturday, the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus exceeded 800,000, with several countries stepping up restrictions in an effort to combat an outbreak of new cases.
AFP contributed to this report.
