The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States’ top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci made big statements about the COVID-19 pandemic. The world’s governing body for health has made it clear that vaccines being developed against COVID-19 cannot be expected before next year. 

The WHO said that there has been good progress in the efforts to make the vaccines, but the earliest use is unlikely to take place before 2021. On the other hand, Dr. Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the United States since 1984, has said that the new coronavirus infection may never be eradicated at all, and that his country’s government is not in a position to win the war against it at the moment.

WHO's emergency program chief Mike Ryan on Wednesday said that many vaccines are in Phase III trials and have shown positive results in terms of safety and ability to produce immune responses, while none have been proven to be failures yet. 

But speaking on the possibility of a vaccine from getting ready to being administered on a global level, the WHO official said, "It will be done (development) in the first half of next year. After that, the vaccine will begin to be given to the people.” 

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Dr. Ryan stated that the WHO is working on the availability of potential vaccines for COVID-19 and to increase their production capacity. "We need to be fair about this, because it is hardly a question of welfare. The vaccine against this epidemic is not only for the rich and not for the poor, it is for everyone,” he said, referring to the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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The vaccine may provide a cure for COVID-19, but many experts say that it may not affect the survival of the coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2, including Dr. Fauci. 

Fauchi has raised the possibility that the coronavirus may never be eradicated completely, but governments and public health officials around the world can reduce exposure to it. "I believe we can control this with the right government health plans, to some extent the global herd immunity and a good vaccine," he said. “Whether this year or next year, but I really don't think we will be able to eliminate it (coronavirus) from the root.”

Read more: Why is it taking so long to develop a vaccine for COVID-19?

Contrary to claims made by several world leaders about the vision of overcoming the COVID-19 threat by eliminating it completely, Fauci has stated that the new coronavirus is not like the 2003 coronavirus that had caused the SARS outbreak. He said that its ability to spread among humans is tremendous and it can infect a large number of people. 

Fauci also said that it is unlikely that the virus could later change into a common cold. According to him, the government will have to better control the virus if it is to open up the states and the economy like it was before institutional lockdowns were imposed. "Surely this game is not over yet. We are not winning at the moment. We are not able to beat it.”


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