Six candidates for COVID-19 vaccines are in “very advanced stage,” so there are hopes that there may soon be immunization of the population against the coronavirus, said World Health Organization (WHO) General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Ethiopian expert, who warned earlier this week that there might not be a “panacea” against COVID -19, added that the fact that some of the possible vaccines are in the third phase of clinical trials is “encouraging,” but stressed that the final results of these tests should be expected first.
More than 140 laboratories in the world are developing vaccines, although six of them in countries such as the US, China, the United Kingdom, and Russia are in the third and final phase of trials, in which the candidate vaccines are tested on thousands of people, in search of possible adverse side effects.
WHO Director of Health Emergencies Mike Ryan added that as soon as any of them show good results, “the vaccine will be produced, and the population will be immunized, but we must be cautious, and see possible effects before vaccinating thousands of people.”
Russian authorities announced last weekend that a vaccine developed by the National Center for Epidemiological Research and Microbiology Gamalei is in the last phase of tests, and could be inoculating the population starting in October, although the WHO has shown caution about it.