Covid-19 will be around for ever, says former UK chief scientific adviser

Coronavirus will be around “for ever” and people are likely to need regular vaccinations against it, a former chief scientific adviser to the UK government has said.

Prof Mark Walport, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), likened the virus to influenza, as he said repeat inoculations on a global scale would almost certainly be required to control it.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme coronavirus was not “going to be a disease like smallpox which could be eradicated by vaccination”.

“This is a virus that is going to be with us for ever in some form or another and almost certainly will require repeated vaccinations,” he said. “So, a bit like flu, people will need revaccination at regular intervals.”

His comments came ahead of an announcement by England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, who said it would be “foolish” to plan for winter on the basis of having a coronavirus vaccine.

Walport said it was possible the virus could get “out of control” again, with the percentage of positive tests rising around the UK as the R number hovers between 0.9 and 1.1, but he said more targeted, localised measures could be used instead of a full lockdown.

The scientist said he was worried about the spread of the virus. “You’ve only got to see what’s happening in France, Spain, [and] in [South] Korea, which got it under control very quickly and is now seeing a rise in cases. And so this infection is with us.”

He said less than one in five people around the UK had had the virus, and 80% of people remained susceptible to

Covid-19.

“It is this terrible balance between trying to minimise the harm to people from the infection while keeping society going,” he said. “People have argued very strongly that applying generic lockdowns isn’t the answer. Initially it had to be the case but now we can be a lot more targeted in the approach.”

However, he warned draconian measures could be imposed if the virus got out of control and added it was an “enormous tragedy” that many people in care homes caught the virus and died after people were discharged from hospitals back to care while infected with coronavirus.His comments came after the head of the World Health Organization said the world should be able to rein in the pandemic within two years. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it took two years to overcome the Spanish flu in the early 20th century, but that advances in technology could allow Covid-19 to be stopped in a “shorter time”.

“We have a disadvantage of globalisation, closeness, connectedness, but an advantage of better technology, so we hope to finish this pandemic before less than two years,” he said in Geneva on Friday. “Of course, with more connectedness, the virus has a better chance of spreading. But, at the same time, we have also the technology to stop it, and the knowledge to stop it.”

It came as South Korea reported the most daily infections since early March and expanded social distancing measures across the country.