It was around a couple of days back that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a new coronavirus vaccine. The revelation from Putin sent a wave of relief all across the globe, but WHO claimed that the Russian vaccine is not among the nine that it considers in the advanced stages of testing.
And now, a WHO scientist has warned that humans will be compelled to battle against coronavirus for years, even if a vaccine is developed to contain the pathogen.
Coronavirus Could Stay with Humans
These remarks were made by Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist for the World Health Organization, during an event hosted by Bloomberg Prognosis. According to Soumya, humans should adapt themselves and should start living with the virus.
"We know this virus is not going away any time soon. It's established itself and is going to keep on transmitting wherever it's able to do so. We know we have to live with this," said Soumya.
Vas Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer of pharmaceutical giant Novartis revealed that the complete elimination of coronavirus from the planet is unlikely in the near future. According to Narasimhan, humans can reach a safe haven after using a combination of drugs and vaccines.
"I think what's realistic to expect is that with a combination of drugs and vaccines we can get to a stable place where the pandemic is manageable. The longer you wait, the more knowledge you're going to have on the vaccine. With reasonable confidence, we could have a safe and effective vaccine before the end of next year that could be used broadly," said Narasimhan.
How Common is Lethal Pandemic Outbreaks?
Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial College London who advised the U.K. government who worked as an advisor during the initial stages of the coronavirus outbreak, revealed that pandemic outbreaks like COVID-19 are very rare, but it occurs as infrequently as once in every 200 years.
Ferguson also added that more such virus outbreaks could happen in the future, as humans and animals are now coming to closer contacts due to extreme urbanization and deforestation.
According to the latest statistics, there are more than 21 million confirmed coronavirus positive cases worldwide, and the total number of deaths due to the pandemic has crossed 7,57,000.
