Don't expect 1st vaccinations until early 2021, says WHO

London: Researchers are making good progress in developing vaccines against COVID-19, with a handful in late-stage trials, but their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, a World Health Organisation expert said.

WHO is working to ensure fair vaccine distribution, but in the meantime it is key to suppress the viruss spread, said Mike Ryan, head of WHOs emergencies programme, as daily new cases around the globe are at near-record levels.

Were making good progress, Ryan said, noting that several vaccines were now in phase 3 trials and none had failed, so far, in terms of safety or ability to generate an immune response. Realistically it is going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated, he said.

WHO was working to expand access to potential vaccines and to help scale-up production capacity, Ryan said.

And we need to be fair about this, because this is a global good. Vaccines for this pandemic are not for the wealthy, they are not for the poor, they are for everybody, he said.