Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – White House Advisor for corona virus as well Director of the US National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that efforts by scientists to create a vaccine that is highly effective, or provides 98% or more protection, for the Covid-19 virus are unlikely.
Scientists hope that the corona virus vaccine that will be produced can be at least 75% effective against the virus, but 50% or 60% effective is also acceptable.
This condition makes public health measures still necessary to control the pandemic.
“The chances of being 98% effective are not great, which means you shouldn’t abandon the public health approach,” he said in webinar organized by Brown University, Friday (7/8), quoted by CNBC International, Saturday (8/7/2020).
“You have to think of vaccines as a tool to make this pandemic no longer a pandemic, but something that can be well controlled,” he said.
The US Food and Drug Administration (Food and Drug Administration/FDA) said it would certify a coronavirus vaccine as long as it was safe and at least 50% effective.
Dr Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the FDA, said last month that a vaccine that finally gets authorization will prove to be more than 50% effective, but it is possible that the US could get a vaccine that on average has only 50% ability to fight viruses.
“We really feel that it has to be the basis,” Hahn said on July 30.
“But most, I think, infectious disease experts also agree that it is [efektif 50%] is a reasonable basis, of course hope that the actual effectiveness will be higher. “
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the US or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, v50% effective axin would be roughly the equivalent of an influenza vaccine, but below the effectiveness of a single dose of measles vaccination, which is about 93% effective.
US public health officials and scientists around the world also hope to find out whether at least one of the many potential Covid-19 vaccines currently developed around the world is safe and effective by the end of December or early next year, although there is never any guarantee.
Drug companies Pfizer and Moderna both started final-stage trials of their potential vaccine last week and both expect to enroll around 30,000 trial participants.
Fauci previously said he was worried about the “durability” of the coronavirus vaccine and said if Covid-19 acts like other coronaviruses, it may not provide long-term protection.
Health officials say there is no way to return to “normal” until a vaccine is in place. Fauci’s comments came a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about developing a vaccine. The WHO reiterated that there may never be an “ultimate cure” for the virus, which continues to spread rapidly around the world.
The WHO insists that the ongoing phase three trials do not necessarily mean that a vaccine is nearly ready for distribution to the public.
“Phase three [uji coba] doesn’t mean it’s almost there, “said Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO’s Emergency Health Program, during a virtual panel discussion with” NBC Nightly News “host Lester Holt hosted by the Aspen Security Forum.
“Phase three means this is the first time this vaccine is introduced into the general population into healthy individuals to see if the vaccine will protect them from natural infection.”
“While there is hope scientists will find a safe and effective vaccine, there is never any guarantee, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“We can’t say we have a vaccine. We may or may not,” he said.
On Friday, Fauci reiterated that he was “very optimistic” that scientists would find a safe and effective vaccine. He also reiterated that the coronavirus may never be eliminated, but world leaders can work together to bring the virus down to “low levels”.
Some of Fauci’s comments ran counter to President Donald Trump, who repeatedly said the virus would “disappear”.
Trump, seeking re-election as President, said on Thursday that there was a possibility the US could have a safe and effective vaccine for the coronavirus before the presidential election on November 3.
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