Coronavirus vaccine will not allow rapid return to normal life, scientists warn
Royal Society warns it may take up to a year to distribute Covid-19 jabs
The development of a coronavirus vaccine in early 2021 will not mean an immediate return to normality, leading scientists have warned.
Even if a Covid-19 jab becomes available in spring, it will take upwards of a year to administer to everyone in the UK, the report by the Royal Society says.
The UK’s national academy of sciences cautioned that people need to be “realistic” about what a vaccine can achieve, adding that other virus-fighting measures - such as social distancing - will need to remain in place.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Even if it is effective, it is unlikely that we will be able to get back completely to normal,” said Charles Bangham, chairman of immunology at Imperial College London and one of the authors of the report.
“There’s going to be a sliding scale: even after the introduction of a vaccine that we know to be effective, we will have to gradually relax some of the other interventions.”
Professor Nilay Shah, head of chemical engineering at Imperial College London, added that life will not be “returning to normal in March” if a vaccine becomes available.
“If vaccination does start in the spring, it will take a long time to work through the different priority groups initially, and then the wider population later on,” Shah said. “We may be able to start the process but then to get through that vaccination process, it will take many months, maybe more than a year.”
There are currently more than 200 potential vaccines being developed by scientists, with “optimism, including from the UK government's scientific advisers, that some people may get a vaccine this year and mass vaccination may start early next year”, the BBC says.
The report from the Royal Society comes just weeks after a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official issued a similar warning, saying hopes that a coronavirus vaccine will end the global pandemic are unrealistic.
Hans Kluge, the health agency’s regional director for Europe, told Bloomberg that while there has been an “unprecedented coordinated effort globally” to create a working vaccination, the drug is “not the issue”.
“The vaccine is not going to be the end of the pandemic,” Kluge said. “The end of the pandemic is going to be when we as people learn to live with the pandemic, and that can begin tomorrow.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
5 simple items to help make your airplane seat more comfortable
The Week Recommends Gel cushions and inflatable travel pillows make a world of difference
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'
The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel, UN agree to Gaza pauses for polio vaccinations
Speed Read Gaza's first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed last week in a 10-month-old boy who is now partially paralyzed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soon
Speed read The CDC recommends the new booster to combat the widely-circulating KP.2 strain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Mpox: how dangerous is new health emergency?
Today's Big Question Spread of potentially deadly sub-variant more like early days of HIV than Covid, say scientists
By The Week UK Published
-
WHO declares mpox a global health emergency
Speed Read An outbreak of the viral disease formerly known as monkeypox continues to spread in Africa
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What is POTS and why is it more common now?
The explainer The condition affecting young women
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Brexit, Matt Hancock and black swans: five takeaways from Covid inquiry report
The Explainer UK was 'unprepared' for pandemic and government 'failed' citizens with flawed response, says damning report
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Should masks be here to stay?
Talking Points New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a mask ban. Here's why she wants one — and why it may not make sense.
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published