A WHO spokesperson on Friday, 4 September, said that the organisation does not expect widespread vaccinations against COVID-19 until mid-next year. According to a Reuters report, this statement was made at a briefing in Geneva and emphasised the importance of thorough testing of vaccines for safety and effectiveness.
“We are not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year.”Margaret Harris, WHO Spokeswoman
Referring to the vaccine trials, she added, “This phase 3 must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is.
FIT has previously explained why it takes so long to develop a vaccine here.
According to a recent WHO report, 172 economies are presently engaged in discussions to participate in COVAX, a global initiative which seeks to collaborate with vaccine manufacturers to provide an equitable access to safe and effective vaccines worldwide, once they are licensed and approved.
COVAX has the world’s largest and most diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolio - including nine candidate vaccines from major producers, with a further nine under evaluation.
“COVID-19 is an unprecedented global health challenge that can only be met with unprecedented cooperation between governments, researchers, manufacturers and multilateral partners. By pooling resources and acting in solidarity through the ACT Accelerator and the COVAX Facility, we can ensure that once a vaccine is available for COVID-19, it’s available equitably to all countries.”Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO
COVAX aims to deliver two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that have received regulatory approval and WHO prequalification by the end of 2021.
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