Wait For COVID Vaccine Till 2022 If You Are Young And Healthy, WHO's Chief Scientist Says

Healthy, young people may have to wait until 2022 to be vaccinated against coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization¡¯s chief scientist, who added that health workers and those at highest risks will be prioritised.

Soumya Swaminathan indicated that, despite the many vaccine trials being undertaken, speedy, mass shots were unlikely, and organising who would be given access first in the event of a safe vaccine being discovered was still being worked on.

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Guidelines on how to prioritise for vaccine not out yet

"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 said. ¡°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 COVID-19 vaccine."

She added that the world will hopefully have at least one safe and effective vaccine by 2021, but it will be available in "limited quantities."

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"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."

WHO warns against complacency about virus

More than 10 coronavirus vaccines around the world are in late-stage clinical trials, Swaminathan said, adding that as various vaccines are potentially cleared for distribution, SAGE will release guidance on what populations each vaccine is best suited for and how to logistically distribute it.

Only recently, two vaccine candidates, from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca¡¯s US trial, had been paused on safety concerns.

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Swaminathan also warned against complacency about the virus death rate, saying with the increasing number of cases, mortality would also rise. "Mortality increases always lag behind increasing cases by a couple of weeks," she said. "We shouldn¡¯t be complacent that death rates are coming down."