WHO: Testing more than 20 different vaccines for corona virus

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with scientists across the globe to conduct several clinical trials with at least 20 vaccines for different corona viruses. This is considered a record period - only 60 days after the genome sequence.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's head of emergency programs, told a news conference at the organization's headquarters in Geneva last Friday: 'Making the vaccine testing process real necessity, we can rely on lessons from previous illnesses such as SARS, or MERS and now COVID-19 '.

WHO also warned, there is still a long way to go before the vaccines can be used in the community. Leading scientists say the clinical trials and safety approvals needed to get a viable vaccine to market can take up to 18 months.

Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO's emergency program, said such tests and approval times are needed. He said: 'There is something more dangerous than a virus that causes disease, it is an unsafe vaccine.'

'We have to be extremely careful in developing any product that will likely be incorporated into the body of the majority of the world's population,' Mike said. The first human trials of the vaccine will begin this week in the United States, the pace of implementation is perceived as 'never before seen'. Mike added that this could never have happened if China and other countries did not share the genetic sequence of COVID-19 with the rest of the world.

The National Institutes of Health collaborated rapidly with biotechnology company Moderna to develop a vaccine that uses the genetic sequence of the corona virus. The trial began at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, Washington. The first trial, or stage 1, will test the vaccine on 45 non-pregnant men and women between the ages of 18 and 55, according to test details on the NIH website.

Before the vaccine was found, WHO officials also warned about the other logistical, financial and ethical barriers facing world leaders.

Dr Mike Ryan said: 'Even if we find an effective vaccine, we have to find a way for everyone to have access to it. There must be an equitable access to vaccines for all, the world is only protected from coronavirus when all are vaccinated. '

The question is: 'How do we make sure there are enough vaccines on time, how to ensure that vaccines can be distributed to people around the world and how to convince them? Did everyone get this vaccine? '

WHO Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is working with global leaders to address these issues.

The corona virus has infected more than 245,000 people worldwide and killed at least 10,031, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. US cases have reached at least 14,250 people, New York state accounts for more than 40% of the total US.

The outbreak began in Wuhan, China in December and has since spread throughout the world. WHO had earlier announced that Europe had become the new epicenter of the outbreak.