The World Health Organisation has said the world cannot wait for a Covid-19 vaccine to become available before lifting lockdown measures.
Doctor Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer at WHO Europe, warned that such immunisation is at least 18 months away.
Doctor Smallwood, said on Thursday during an online briefing that:
“With regards to the vaccine, no, WHO is not saying you need to wait for a vaccine [before lifting the restrictions]. We do not know when a vaccine will be available for using on the population. What we need to do is to take action now based on the epidemiological situation,”
She added that the international community should get used to the period “of a new normal” before the vaccine would become available.
“We know that there are over 70 vaccines currently in trials. There is a huge push in the research and development community to move forward. But we are also aware that in reality we know that it normally takes several years for a vaccine to be developed,” Smallwood said.
