DESPITE premier biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies: Moderna and Pfizer recording success as COVID-19 vaccine candidates, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said a vaccine alone will not end the pandemic. 

“A vaccine will complement the other tools we have, not replace them. A vaccine on its own will not end the pandemic,” Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said recently during an executive board meeting in Geneva.

With new cases being recording daily, Ghebreyesus stated that supplies of the vaccine would be initially directed to “health workers, older people and other at-risk populations,” adding that it will enable health systems to cope.

Ghebreyesus further warned “That will still leave the virus with a lot of room to move. Surveillance will need to continue, people will still need to be tested, isolated and cared for, contacts will still need to be traced… and individuals will still need to be cared for.”

At the moment, 55 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded globally, with over a million deaths according to Worldometer.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria will continue to partner with the WHO and some countries to ensure accelerated development and manufacturing, as well as uninhibited supply of safe and effective Coronavirus vaccines to all.

President Buhari said this on Wednesday while speaking virtually on the first day of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Debate.

“…. Nigeria is committed to working with other member states in the spirit of global cooperation and solidarity to promote human health and general well-being,” he said.