Don’t expect first COVID-19 vaccinations until early 2021: WHO

COVID-19 vaccinations: Researchers are making “good progress” in developing vaccines against COVID-19, with a handful in late-stage trials, but their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on July 22.

WHO is working to ensure fair vaccine distribution, but in the meantime, it is key to suppress the virus’s spread, said Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergency program, as daily new cases around the globe are at near-record levels.

“We’re making good progress,” Ryan 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.

“Realistically it is going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated,” he told a public event on social media.

The U.S. government will pay $1.95 billion to buy 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer Inc and German biotech BioNTech <22UAy.F> if it proves safe and effective, the companies said.

Ryan also cautioned schools to be careful about re-opening until community transmission of COVID-19 is under control. The debate in the United States over restarting education has intensified, even as the pandemic flares up in dozens of states.

“We have to do everything possible to bring our children back to school, and the most effective thing we can do is to stop the disease in our community,” he said. “Because if you control the disease in the community, you can open the schools.”

Mean-while, New coronavirus cases in India rose 45,720 in the past 24 hours, pushing the total Covid-19 tally in India over 12 lakh mark today, while the total number of recoveries crossed 7.82 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The death toll due to the disease rose to 29,861 with 1,129 fatalities reported in one day.