WHO chief: There are around seven or eight ‘top’ candidates for a vaccine

The World Health Organization chief says there are around seven or eight “top” candidates for a vaccine to combat the novel coronavirus.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a UN Economic and Social Council video briefing that “we have more than a hundred candidates, and we are focusing on the few candidates we have which can bring probably better results, and accelerating those candidates with better potential.”

He does not identify the top candidates for a vaccine against COVID-19.

Tedros says the original thinking two months ago was that it may take 12 to 18 months for a vaccine, but an accelerated effort is under way, helped by 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) pledged a week ago by world leaders, organizations, and banks for research, treatment and testing.

He says the $8 billion will not be enough, and additional funds will be needed to speed up both the development of a vaccine and, more importantly, the production of enough “to make sure that this vaccine reaches everyone — (and) there’s no one left behind.”

Tedros stresses that COVID-19 is “very contagious and it’s a killer,” with more than 4 million cases now reported to WHO, and almost 275,000 lives lost.

While new cases are declining in Western Europe, they are increasing in Eastern Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and other regions, he says.

— AP