COVID-19
WHO reports widespread COVID-19 vaccinations not expected until mid-2021
The World Health Organization’s spokeswoman Margaret Harris said Friday they do not expect widespread vaccinations against COVID-19 until the middle of next year.
She said this was due to the importance of rigorous checks on their effectiveness and safety, Reuters reported.
None of the candidate vaccines in advanced clinical trials so far has demonstrated a “clear signal” of efficacy at the level of at least 50 percent sought by the WHO, Harris said.
Reuters reported that Russia granted regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine in August after less than two months of human testing, prompting some Western experts to question its safety and efficacy.
Meanwhile, US public health officials and drug company Pfizer Inc said on Thursday a vaccine could be ready for distribution as soon as late October.
But Reuters quoted Harris as saying: “We are really not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year.”