The Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros said that COVID-19 has preyed on people with non-communicable diseases, and their risk factors are “increasing vulnerability to COVID-19 infection and the likelihood of worse outcomes, including in younger people."
Speaking to reporters in Geneva today (04 Sep), Dr Tedros said, "I would like to assure the public that WHO will not endorse a vaccine that's not effective and safe."
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist said, “no vaccine is going to be mass deployed before the regulators are confident and the governments are confident and that WHO is confident, that these vaccines have met the minimum standards of efficacy and safety.”
Swaminathan continued, “we have a very elaborate and thorough process, where we look at all the criteria, the qualities of a vaccine, and whether they have been met before we will make any kind of recommendations, either on emergency use authorization or on a general licensing or authorization for use through pre-qualification programs."
She also said, “we should reassure the public that vaccines that are recommended for use by WHO and by the national regulatory authorities would have passed the minimum standards needed."
