WHO CLAIMS FIRST RESULTS ON COVID TRIALS OUT IN 2 WEEKS

The World Health Organization (WHO) expects initial results within two weeks from clinical trials it is conducting of drugs that might be effective in treating COVID-19 patients, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing on Friday, Stephanie Nabehay wrote for Reuters on July 4, 2020.

Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, said it would be unwise to predict when a COVID-19 vaccine could be ready for mass distribution.

While a vaccine candidate might show its effectiveness by year’s end, the question was how soon it could be mass produced, he told the briefing.

At least 19 vaccines are being tested worldwide, with the US, China and the United Kingdom competing to be first to develop a surefire vaccine against the dreaded virus, which has killed more than 500,000 people since it was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei province in the middle of December 2019.