The WHO on Friday warned that vaccines would be no magic bullet for the COVID-19 pandemic as nations gear up for a massive rollout to tackle surging infections.
The word of caution came as the US clocked a record number of COVID-19 cases for a second day in a row, with the country preparing for what US president-elect Joe Biden has called a “dark winter.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday recommended “universal face mask use” indoors as countries prepare for the approval and rollout of several vaccines that have proven effective in trials.
Photo: AFP
However, the WHO warned against vaccine complacency and what it said was an erroneous belief that the COVID-19 crisis is over with jabs on the horizon.
“Vaccines do not equal zero COVID,” WHO Health Emergencies Program executive director Michael Ryan said, adding that not everyone would be able to receive it early next year. “Vaccination will add a major, major, powerful tool to the tool kit that we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said progress on vaccines signaled “light at the end of the tunnel.”
However, he cautioned against the “growing perception that the pandemic is over,” with the virus still spreading fast, putting enormous pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers.
The WHO has said 51 candidate vaccines are being tested on humans, with 13 reaching final-stage mass testing.
The UK on Wednesday became the first Western country to approve an inoculation, from Pfizer-BioNTech, for general use.
The US is expected to give a green light later this month.
Belgium, France and Spain have said jabs would begin next month for the most vulnerable.
With the imminent arrival of vaccines that need storage at ultra-low temperatures, US companies are preparing for a massive logistical effort to aid their distribution.
Firms specializing in insulating containers are on a war footing after Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine needs to be stored at minus-70°C.
Meat processing giant Smithfield said it was ready to put the cold rooms at its abattoirs at the disposal of rollout operations.
US logistics giant UPS is producing 500kg of dry ice an hour in its depots and has developed portable freezers capable of storing the vaccines at temperatures down to minus-80°C.
Standing in the way of success are growing signs of vaccine skepticism, with misinformation and mistrust coloring public acceptance of inoculation.
Several high-profile figures have pledged to receive the vaccine in an effort to build confidence, including Biden, Tedros and former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
The US recorded 225,000 new infections on Friday — the second daily record in a row for the world’s worst-hit nation.
Nearly 66 million people have contracted COVID-19 globally, with the death toll from the disease topping 1.5 million.
British medical chiefs said the arrival of a vaccine should see deaths reduce “significantly” by early next year, but warned that social mixing over Christmas could cause another spike before then.
“By spring the effects of vaccination will begin to be felt in reducing COVID admissions, attendances and deaths significantly, but there are many weeks before we get to that stage,” they said.
Italy is seeing a resurgence of infections after it tamped down an earlier outbreak by enforcing a strict lockdown, while Latin America and the Caribbean have seen an 18 percent spike in cases in a week.
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