There’s No Guarantee Any COVID Vaccine Will Actually Work, Says WHO Chief

Geneva: The World Health Organisation (WHO) cannot guarantee that a COVID-19 vaccine would actually work.

“We have no guarantee that any single vaccine now in development will work,” the head of the world’s premier health organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said while addressing a virtual press conference.

“The more candidates we test, the higher the chance we have of a safe and efficacious vaccine,” he added.

As per WHO information, around 200 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are right now in pre-clinical and clinical testing stage.

“The history of vaccine development tells us that some will fail, and some will succeed,” Ghebreyesus said.

WHO has collaborated with global vaccine alliance group Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to launch a scheme called COVAX. Its aim is to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines and facilitate equitable access for every country.

“The fastest route to ending the pandemic and accelerating the global economic recovery is to ensure some people are vaccinated in all countries, not all people in some countries,” he noted.