Global recovery will be faster if Covid-19 vaccine available to all
ECONOMIC recovery around the world could come faster if any Covid-19 vaccine is made available to all as a public good, World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.
He was speaking in an online panel discussion with members of the Aspen Security Forum in the United States moderated by the NBC network.
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, asked about a proposed Russian vaccine, told the panel that what was needed now was to ensure any vaccines are safe and effective.
Ryan also said authorities should be able to demonstrate the efficacy of a coronavirus vaccine via traditional clinical trials rather than “human challenge” studies. He was referring to the intentional exposure of vaccinated volunteers to a virus to see whether the vaccine works.
Tedros also told the panel that US leadership and support on public health had saved many lives.
He said the Trump administration’s recent withdrawal from the WHO was not over money but rather the US relationship with the UN agency, saying he hoped Washington would reconsider its stance.
Trump said in a radio interview on Thursday it was possible the United States would have a coronavirus vaccine before the November 3 election — a more optimistic forecast than timing put forth by his own White House health experts.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday it was possible the United States would have a coronavirus vaccine before the November election, a far more optimistic forecast than timing put forth by his own White House health experts.
Asked on the Geraldo Rivera radio programme when a vaccine might be ready, Trump said: “Sooner than the end of the year, could be much sooner.” “Sooner than November 3?” he was asked.
“I think in some cases, yes possible before, but right around that time,” Trump said.
Trump, who is seeking re-election to a second term amid a US economy crippled by coronavirus shutdowns, has pushed for schools to reopen and things to get “back to normal” as coronavirus deaths in the country average more than 1 000 per day.
Top government health officials have said corners would not be cut in the race to secure a vaccine against the virus.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US government infectious diseases official, offered a more conservative view on Wednesday, saying there might be an indication that at least one vaccine works and is safe by year end.
Trump was upbeat on the US economic recovery once a vaccine is available. “We’re going to have vaccines very soon, we’re gonna have therapeutics very soon,” he told the radio programme.
France and Spain have recorded big daily spikes in new coronavirus infections amid fears that Europe is undergoing a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Countries across Europe have struggled to contain rising daily infection rates as they eased lockdown measures in a bid to revive economies which have faltered since the beginning of the pandemic.
France recorded 1 695 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours by Wednesday, the highest increase in the country since May 30. Meanwhile, Spain announced 1 772 cases on Wednesday, the highest daily spike since its lockdown measures were lifted in June.
The increasing case rate also comes after a German doctors’ union warned on Tuesday that a second wave of infections had already arrived in Germany. — AFP\ Reuters\Al Jazeera