There may never be a Covid-19 vaccine, says WHO coronavirus expert
While over 100 vaccines are currently under trials to fight coronavirus and a couple of those have entered the human trial stage, the leading health experts have raised questions about what if the world never sees a Covid-19 vaccine, as there is no vaccine for HIV and dengue even after years of research.
Dr. David Nabarro, World Health Organization's Covid-19 special envoy, was quoted as saying in a CNN report that "There are some viruses that we still do not have vaccines against. We can't make an absolute assumption that a vaccine will appear at all, or if it does appear, whether it will pass all the tests of efficacy and safety."
According to the report, "The worst-case possibility: that no vaccine is ever developed". In this outcome, "the public's hopes are repeatedly raised and then dashed, as various proposed solutions fall before the final hurdle." After nearly four decades and 32 million deaths, the world is still waiting for a vaccine for HIV. An effective vaccine for dengue fever, which infects as many as 400,000 people a year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), has eluded the scientists for decades.
A vaccine to prevent dengue (Dengvaxia) is available in some countries for people between 9-45 years old. But the WHO has recommended that the vaccine only be given to persons with confirmed prior dengue virus infection. According to Dr Anthony Fauci, the Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the vaccine could happen in 12-18 months. However, "we've never accelerated a vaccine in a year to 18 months," Dr Peter Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, was quoted as saying.
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Currently, a vaccine candidate for coronavirus was identified by the researchers from the Oxford Vaccine Group and Oxford's Jenner Institute. The potential upcoming vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is based on an adenovirus vaccine vector and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
-PTC News
