(Xinhua)08:26, August 05, 2020
Canadians shouldnt expect a COVID-19 vaccine to end the coronavirus pandemic and return to normal, Canadas Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said on Tuesday.
Were going to have to manage this pandemic certainly over the next year, but certainly it may be planning for the longer term on the next two to three years during which the vaccine may play a role, said Tam at a press conference on COVID-19 in Ottawa.
People might think that if we get a vaccine then everything goes back to normal the way it was before. Thats not the case. All of the measures weve put in place now will still have to continue with the new reality for quite some time, Canadas Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo said at the press conference.
Certainly I think that we need to temper peoples expectations, thinking that the vaccines can be that silver bullet that will take care of everything, and everything weve done up to now wont be necessary in the future, said Njoo.
Tam reiterated the importance of physical distancing, proper hand hygiene and mask wearing.
We cant at this stage just put all of our focus [on a vaccine] in the hopes that this is the silver bullet solution, said Tam. It is a very important solution if we get a safe and effective vaccine, but I would say that the public health measures that we have in place the sort of personal, daily measures that we take is going to have to continue.
Tam said its unclear at this stage how effective a vaccine will be. She said key questions remain about the degree and duration of immunity a vaccine will provide, the dosage that will be needed and whether it will prevent people from getting infected altogether or simply prevent severe illness requiring hospitalization.
It is reported that there are more than 166 vaccines at various stages of preclinical and clinical (human) testing across the globe right now.
Tam warned that even once a vaccine is tested and deemed to be both safe and effective, there will be challenges with distributing it widely to those who need it.
Its likely that there wont be enough vaccines for the population, said Tam. So therell be prioritization and were looking at that.
COVID-19 has hit the whole world. More than 18.36 million people are infected worldwide and 696,000 have died, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Up to Tuesday afternoon, there have been 117,343 confirmed cases and 8,953 deaths from the virus, according to CTV.