Confidence in vaccines essential to stop a pandemic: WHO

As the world celebrates advances in vaccines against the new coronavirus, top WHO experts warned in an interview with AFP that public distrust risks even the most effective treatments for pandemics becoming useless. ..

“A vaccine Freezers, refrigerators, and anything that isn’t used on the shelves can’t help shorten this pandemic, “said Kate O’Brien, head of the World Health Organization’s vaccination department.

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said Monday in an ongoing final-stage trial involving more than 40,000 people that future vaccines will be 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection. Announced that it has been proven.

O’Brien praised the interim results as “very important” and hopes to have immediate preliminary data from a small number of other candidate vaccines in similarly advanced trials.

If complete data shows that “one or more of these vaccines have very, very substantial efficacy” for combating a pandemic, it puts another tool in the toolbox. That’s really good news for, “she said.

However, as pandemics continue to surge after the deaths of about 1.3 million people, she has expressed deep concern that the signs of vaccine hesitation are widespread, with false information and distrust. It colors the acceptance of scientific progress in Japan.

“We will never succeed as a world that controls a pandemic. Vaccine use As a tool unless people want to get vaccinated, “O’Brien said.

“We need to do more to increase confidence in the vaccines that WHO is involved in evaluating, and we will not compromise on safety or efficacy,” she said.

“Mount Everest”

O’Brien admitted that there were many open questions about Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine candidates and their associates, such as how long the protection against the virus would last.

Vaccine candidates have been tested on how effectively and safely they protect people from the onset of the disease, but it is unclear whether they will actually avoid asymptomatic or viral infections.

According to her, the big question is, “Does it change the chances of sending to others?”

Despite the remaining questions, WHO is betting on one or more vaccines that will soon win approval, followed by a rapid scale-up of production and distribution.

In anticipation of the enormous demand for approved vaccines, the United Nations Health Organization helped create a so-called Covax facility to ensure fair distribution.

However, even with great effort, it will take some time before sufficient doses are available for all, and WHO has set guidelines for prioritizing distribution.

“The goal here is to allow all countries to immunize 20 percent of the population by the end of 2021,” O’Brien said.

It would be of great help in providing protection, she said Health care workers And most Vulnerable population, And like teachers, essential to keep society running.

After that, how quickly everyone else can access the vaccine depends largely on the country in which they live and whether the government has made a deal to access the approved vaccine.

“More doses are expected in 2022,” O’Brien said.

On the other hand, the logistical challenge of distributing approved vaccines to billions of people in need is challenging, from manufacturing to ensuring the cryogenic transport and storage required by some candidates.

“Vaccines that are very effective and safe are only valuable to public health impacts if they actually reach people in need of protection and are widely used by people,” O’Brien said. ..

Developing a safe and effective vaccine is “like setting up a base camp in Everest,” she said.

“But the actual effect of the vaccine seems to be having to climb Everest.”

© 2020 AFP