WHO chief says 'no silver bullet' yet for COVID-19 as vaccine trials continue

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief warned on August 3 that there might never be a “silver bullet” for the novel coronavirus despite several vaccine trials. Addressing a virtual press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the Emergency Committee on COVID-19 met and reviewed the ongoing pandemic.

“A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment and there might never be,” said the top WHO official.

Dr Ghebreyesus called the meeting a “sobering moment” as the committee had advised that the outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. On January 30, there were fewer than 100 cases and no reported deaths outside China and in three months, three million COVID-19 cases and over 200,000 had been reported to WHO.

“Since then, the number of cases has increased more than fivefold to 17.5 million, and the number of deaths has more than tripled, to 680,00,” added Dr Ghebreyesus.

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The WHO chief highlighted that the world has witnessed the social, economic, and political damaged caused by the coronavirus, apart from the health impact. The Emergency Committee has put forward a number of recommendations for countries to bring the virus under control.

Coronavirus origins investigation

Dr Ghebreyesus also provided updates on the investigation into the origin of coronavirus, which is believed to be originated from a wet market in Wuhan. He said that the WHO advance team that travelled to China has now concluded their mission to lay the groundwork for further joint efforts to identify the virus origins. WHO and Chinese experts have drafted the ‘Terms of Reference’ for the studies and programme of work for an international team’

“Epidemiological studies will begin in Wuhan to identify the potential source of infection of the early cases. Evidence and hypotheses generated through this work will lay the ground for further, longer-term studies,” he added.

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