It is only a day since the World Health Organization announced that Covid-19 may never go away and now another official has warned that it could take at least five years for the virus to be controlled.
WHO Chief Scientist DR Soumya Swaminathan said it would require more time for researchers to come up with an effective vaccine with the period estimated at four to five years.
“I would say in a four to five-year timeframe, we could be looking at controlling this,” warned Dr. Swaminathan adding that a vaccine that appeared to be more effective still has a lot of “if and buts” about its safety.
The WHO says the duration of developing an effective vaccine is what determines the timeframe before the virus is put under control.
Since it was first reported in China back in November, the virus has infected over 4 million people globally and has claimed the lives of over 300,000 people.
The numbers have been rising despite the stringent measures that have been put by various Governments to curb the virus spread.
At the same rate of spread, if the virus is not contained in five years, it will infect an estimated number of 40 million people and kill at least 3 million people globally.
On Wednesday, WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan said that Covid-19 might stick around for a while as it requires massive efforts to combat it. He also warned that the virus might become an endemic like HIV which researchers still have no cure for.
“It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away, “WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan said during the brief.
“I think it is important we are realistic and I don’t think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear. I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem or it may not be.”