Covid-19 vaccine for healthy young people will only be given in 2022

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Covid-19 vaccine for healthy young people will only be given in 2022 as health authorities focus on the vulnerable sectors.

According to Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist, the vaccine will be given first to health workers, frontline workers, and the elderly though details about the prioritization are being finalized by the WHO and its advisory groups.

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Moreover, the WHO, the European Union, or the United States must ensure first that a coronavirus vaccine has been proven safe and effective.

“People tend to think that on the first of January or the first of April, I’m going to get the vaccine, and then things will be back to normal,” Swaminathan said. “It’s not going to work like that.”

She explained that at least one safe and effective vaccine will be available by 2021, but it will be given in “limited quantities.” SAGE, the WHO’s strategic advisory group of experts on immunization, issued guidelines for countries on how to prioritize different groups of people.

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Swaminathan mentioned that there are over 10 coronavirus vaccines around the world that are in late-stage clinical trials. She noted that once various vaccines are cleared for distribution, SAGE will present guidance on which populations each vaccine is appropriate for and its logistical distribution

“Most people agree that it’s starting with healthcare workers and frontline workers, but even then you need to define which of them are at highest risk and then the elderly and so on,” Swaminathan noted. “There will be a lot of guidance coming out, but I think an average person, a healthy young person might have to wait until 2022 to get a vaccine.”

CDC, FDA preparations

Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration are also preparing for the distribution of the scarce doses to at-risk communities. However, the US timeline will appear very different from that of the WHO.

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The US has independently signed deals for the distributions of hundreds of millions of doses from six companies with potential Covid-19 vaccines being developed.

Health authorities in the US said that they could have enough doses for the vaccination of Americans by the spring of 2021.

Vaccine nationalism

Top WHO authorities have warned nations against securing vaccine doses for their own citizens like the US and China have done. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tagged this practice as “vaccine nationalism.”

Meanwhile, the WHO has introduced the COVAX program to ensure fair access to the supply of vaccine doses for several nations. Over 170 countries, including China and the United Kingdom, have made investments in the facility.

“We need to make sure that we vaccinate those most at risk in every country before we vaccinate everyone in a couple of countries,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said Wednesday.

“Part of that is not only due to the commitments of governments, but also the understanding of individuals saying, ‘I’m a younger person. I don’t have any underlying conditions. I may need to wait so my grandparents can get a vaccine,’” she added.