Coronavirus Vaccine cannot be expected until early 2021 - WHO

Thepresstv.com.ng ~ World Health Organization has revealed that the coronavirus vaccine will not be available until 2021, further dashing hopes of many who are looking up to the arrival of the vaccine as an effective measure for stopping the virus which continues to ravage the whole world.

Already, coronavirus has hit over 17.5million confirmed cases and over 600,000 casualties globally with US, Mexico, Spain, Russia and other advanced nations responsible for the lion share.

There were hopes in Britain that a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by researchers at the University of Oxford could be ready by Christmas as the disease continues to ravage countries.

Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies programme, said researchers are making “good progress” in developing vaccines against the virus, and a handful are in late-stage trials.

But their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, the expert said as daily new cases around the globe are at near-record levels.

It came as the UK government promised to provide £100 million of funding for a facility to scale up the manufacturing of vaccines for Covid-19.

Mr Ryan said WHO is working to ensure fair vaccine distribution, but in the meantime it is key to suppress the virus’s spread.

“We’re making good progress,” he said, noting that several vaccines were now in phase 3 trials and none had failed, so far, in terms of safety or ability to generate an immune response.