WHO Chief Warns Vaccine Won’t End Covid-19 Pandemic As Moderna, Pfizer Announce Early Successes

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TOPLINE

In the midst of the early successes of Moderna and Pfizer’s promising vaccine candidates, the head of the World Health Organization warned that a vaccine alone won’t end the Covid-19 pandemic, stressing that the “virus will still have a lot (of) room to move” once vaccines start to roll out.  

KEY FACTS

In a video Monday, WHO head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while a vaccine is “essential for bringing the pandemic under control” it is used to complement other pandemic fighting tools, “not replace them.”

“A vaccine on its own, will not end the pandemic,” he said.

With an initial vaccine supply limited, Tedros said that health workers, older people and other at-risk populations will be prioritized.

While this should hopefully relieve pressure on healthcare systems and reduce deaths, Tedros warned that “the virus will still have a lot (of) room to move.”

Even with a vaccine, Tedros said it will be important to continue existing disease-fighting measures like contact tracing, testing, surveillance, and isolating cases, as well as encouraging communities and individuals to be careful. 

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KEY BACKGROUND

Since Pfizer and BioNTech announced the early results for their Covid-19 vaccine last week, many have been celebrating that the pandemic — which has claimed nearly 250,000 lives in the U.S. and over a million worldwide — might finally be nearing its end. That mood was buoyed again Monday when Moderna announced the early successes of their Covid-19 vaccine, found to be 94.5% effective. But while promising, much more promising than some authorities had said they were willing to accept (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was willing to accept a vaccine effective in 50% of people), there is still a lot of uncertainty. Neither vaccine has been approved by regulators and clinical trials are still ongoing.

Even if approved, and also accounting for the fact that manufacturers have been ramping up production anticipating approval, it will take time for vaccines to be distributed, administered and to take effect. The low temperatures required by Pfizer’s vaccine could complicate this further, if not make it entirely impractical to use in many parts of the world. This could take months or even years to achieve adequately around the world, and not much is known about how long immunity might last.

It’s very possible Covid-19, once under control, could become a cyclical illness that stays with us, much like the flu, experts say.

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