WHO teams up with countries, partners to develop vaccine for COVID-19

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that it is teaming up with countries and partners worldwide to accelerate work on drugs and a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

This was revealed on Friday by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who said that World leaders have rallied around the United Nations for an initiative to help the most vulnerable countries gain access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatment tools for the coronavirus as soon as they emerge.

The development comes after the head of the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, Seth Berkley, has noted that the first vaccines against the deadly COVID-19 virus might be available in 12 to 18 months “if we’re really lucky”.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Global cases exceed 2.7 million

Berkley who revealed this at a virtual press briefing in Geneva on Friday also noted that the more competition in the quest to find a cure the better in the scientific fightback against the new coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 people since it emerged in December.

Speaking further during the virtual press briefing, Berkley said that confidence in an eventual COVID-19 vaccine would be greatly boosted if political leaders were seen getting immunised, saying he was “quite disturbed” by highly-politicised campaigns against vaccination.

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