Dr Simon Clarke told talkRADIO a viable coronavirus vaccine may not be ready until the second half of 2021 at the earliest. He warned the vaccine may not be suitable for everybody and could have long-term side effects.
Dr Clarke said: “When you see politicians and TV doctors going on air and telling people ‘the vaccine trials are going well’, they don’t know that.
“All they can know is that the vaccine trials are recruiting the right number of volunteers, that is all.
“Those trials are blind, nobody knows what is going on.”
The talkRADIO host asked: “What would be your estimate of when one might be ready?”
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Dr Clarke replied: “Ready for it to go into people? At the very earliest the second half next year, 12 months from now.
“But it could be years away.
“Even if they do get a vaccine, it might not be suitable for everybody.
“For instance, it might not be suitable for elderly people who are the ones who need it.
Mr Farrar said: “There will always be people who either don’t respond to the vaccine or for some reason do not receive it and will get sick.
“So we will need treatments as importantly as we will need vaccines, as importantly as we will need public health measures of some degree of physical distancing for a while yet.
“We will need trust in public health and political leadership.
“These things are all part of public health, there is no single magic bullet that will bring this pandemic to an end.
“If you deploy good vaccines, if you deploy good treatments and you keep some degree of the public health measures in place now, this pandemic can be turned around in the next six months, maybe 12 months at a global scale.”
He added: “
Christmas, I think will be tough this year, I don’t think Christmas is going to be the usual celebration it is with all families coming together I am afraid.”
