(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Dr. Mike Ryan, Head of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, has claimed that there will be no coronavirus vaccine until early 2021, dashing hopes that the Oxford vaccine would be ready before Christmas.
The Irish doctor said that, while several vaccines are in phase three trials and have had promising results so far, a vaccine cannot be “realistically” expected until early next year.
Dr. Ryan’s comments come after members of the Oxford vaccine team claimed that they would be ready to deliver the jab before Christmas if results continued to be positive.
During a Q&A presented by the WHO on Wednesday, Dr. Ryan discussed the timeline of a potential vaccine. He said that they’re “speeding that up as much as possible, but we’re not, in any way, going to cut corners on safety.”
He added: “Realistically it’s going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated.”
