When the first COVID-19 vaccines hit the market, the world won’t necessarily return to “normal,” say leading infectious disease experts.
In a new article for the Lancet medical journal, two researchers from the University of Hong Kong warn that even after the conclusion of phase III clinical trials, important questions will remain about the efficacy of vaccines in stopping viral transmission of COVID. . -19.
Gabriel Leung, an infectious disease epidemiologist, and Malik Peiris, a public health virologist, argue that while several vaccine manufacturers have achieved phase III clinical trials at a record pace, scientists are currently studying only part of it. equation to measure how well a vaccine can. help end the global pandemic.
Currently, they say, vaccines are being evaluated only for how they prevent vaccine recipients from developing COVID-19 and not how a vaccine could reduce viral transmission.
So even if a vaccine hits the market, which could happen later this year, there may be little evidence about the vaccine’s effectiveness in stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Given this gap in research, legislators and the general public must calibrate their expectations in terms of how the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine will return the world to a pre-pandemic “normalcy,” say Leung and Peiris.
because [the vaccine] can be 70% [effective],” Robert Redfield, said the director. . from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a Congressional hearing on Sept. 17.
US President Donald Trump called Redfield’s statement “incorrect,” but other infectious disease experts backed Redfield’s claim.
Despite the possible limitations, Leung and Peiris argue that the general public should not hesitate to obtain vaccines when they hit the market.
But vaccines are “just one tool in the overall public health response to COVID-19 and are unlikely to be the ultimate solution that many hope for.”
