An expert has warned that the young and healthy may need to wait until 2022 for their turn for the COVID-19 vaccine. According to The World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan, there will be a possible delay among them for over a year.
“People tend to think, ah, on the first of January or the first of April, I’m going to get a vaccine and then things will be back to normal.” Swaminathan stated in an online WHO Q&A on Wednesday. “It’s not going to work like that.”
She explains “There will be a lot of guidance coming out, but I think an average person, a healthy, young person, might have to wait until 2022 to get a vaccine.”
Although a vaccine has not been fully developed as of yet, organizations like The WHO are preparing for when the day comes. Therefore, besides healthcare workers, those at the most risk will be priority when immunizations begin. This means the young and healthy may be the last to receive the vaccine.
Young and healthy people can get sick and possibly die of COVID-19 while spreading it among others. However, evidence shows that they are less like to suffer any serious complications compared to the elderly and those with health issues.
Children are likely to be one of the last of the young healthy bunch to receive the vaccine. This is due to the fact that very few candidates under 18 have been tested in the immunization trials.
According to the Washington Post, scientists have warned that early vaccines may be effective only half the time. This means that more doses will need to be given to make it effective.
Robin Nandy, the chief of immunization at UNICEF, states in an interview that “Vaccines are going to be available in the initial years in too small quantities to vaccinate the seven billion people we have across the globe today.” He continues, “Vaccines will arrive in dribs and drabs.”
There are projections that the U.S. could have an estimated 700 million doses of a vaccine by spring. However, this can still lead the average young and healthy person to wait much longer.