SINGAPORE – The world must remain vigilant for the next six months while the coronavirus vaccine is rolled out, as it will be some time before the majority of the population receives their vaccines, the main scientist of the world told CNBC. ‘World Health Organization
“We will get closer to the beginning of the end, we will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said on Wednesday. “Still, we still have to go through a tunnel and the next few months will be very critical.”
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 have continued to rise at an alarming rate, with infections worldwide exceeding 78 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for emergency use in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, while the United States has also approved the Modern one.
While we can certainly expect a much better picture by the end of next year, the next few months, I think, will be difficult.
Soumya Swaminathan
Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization
Swaminathan said the vaccines will initially protect a very small group of more vulnerable and at-risk people, and it will be months before the rest of the population can be covered.
“It’s going to take until the end of 2021 until we start to see some level of population immunity appear in some countries,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday.
“We need to keep the guard alert, we need to do all the things we know that reduce transmission and the chances of people getting sick of it,” he said. This includes public health measures and individual behavioral changes.
“While we can certainly expect a much better picture by the end of next year, the next few months, I think, will be difficult,” he added.
New strain in the UK
Separately, Swaminathan discussed a new variant of the virus that recently emerged in the UK and has been identified in countries such as Australia, Denmark and Italy.
He said it is unusual because it has a large number of mutations and has separated from the middle strain.
“The most worrying thing is that it has about eight mutations in the spike protein region,” he added. The virus ear protein attaches to receptors on the surface of human airway cells or to the ACE2 receptor in the case of Covid-19. Mutations have been detected in the part of the protein that binds to the receptors in the airways.
“Probably that’s why this virus seems to have an advantage in infecting people, it seems to be transmitted more efficiently, it seems to infect children who have less of these receptors,” he said.
People wear protective masks while shopping at Union Square Greenmarket on December 4, 2020 in New York City.
Noam Galai | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
But she noted that the new variant “does not appear to increase clinical severity or make things worse” for those who are infected by it.
The WHO said in a note that the strain “could spread more easily,” but that “there is currently not enough information” to determine whether the mutations will change the severity of the disease, the antibody response or the efficacy. of the vaccine.
Swaminathan said there is “no reason” to believe the current vaccines will not cover her at this time. This is because vaccines produce a “broad immune response” that will likely be effective against the new strain.
However, if vaccines need to be modified, it can be done “easily”. “If there is a need, it could be done,” he said. “But for now, I think most people think the current generation of vaccines should work well.”