WHO chief hopes there will be a coronavirus vaccine by end of this year
- 3 years ago
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday said he hopes there will be a coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2020.
"The Pfizer one (vaccine) is a very promising one, we also expect more and more," said Tedros. He reiterated the United Nations agency's call for an equitable distribution of vaccine doses once they are available.
He said the WHO team studying origin of virus has experts from US, Russia, Australia, Sudan, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Vietnam and Britain.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director for Africa, told the same WHO ministerial assembly: "The exciting news yesterday (Monday) of a possible effective vaccine becoming available presages significant cold chains challenges for African countries by the type of vaccine that that is. Which will need to be factored into the support to be provided."
The United States, which has accused China of having hidden the extent of its coronavirus outbreak, called on Tuesday for a "transparent and inclusive" WHO-led international investigation into the origin of the pandemic, criticising its current terms.
The Trump administration has accused the World Health Organization of being "China-centric" and of being its puppet, which WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has denied.
Tedros on Monday welcomed efforts to strengthen the Geneva-based body through reform and said it was looking forward to working closely with the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden.
WHO's funding must become more flexible and predictable to end a "major misalignment" between expectations and available resources, WHO director-general said, citing reform efforts by France, Germany and the European Union.
"We welcome the encouraging vaccine news from @pfizer & @BioNTech_Group & salute all scientists & partners around the who are developing new safe, efficacious tools to beat #COVID19," WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.
"The world is experiencing unprecedented scientific innovation & collaboration to end the pandemic," he said.
As of mid-October, the WHO has identified 42 "candidate vaccines" at the stage of clinical trials, up from 11 in mid-June.
Ten of them were at the most advanced phase 3 stage, in which a vaccine's effectiveness is tested on a large scale, generally tens of thousands of people across several continents.
Source: Source
Comments