London: The World Health Organisation’s top scientist says it’s now been definitively proven that the cheap malaria drug hydroxychloroquine the drug favoured by President Donald Trump doesn’t work in stopping deaths among people hospitalized with the new coronavirus.
But Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said there could still be a role for the drug in preventing people from catching COVID-19 in the first place and noted that clinical trials testing hydroxychloroquine’s role in this are ongoing.
Swaminathan said in a press briefing on Thursday that there is still a gap in determining whether hydroxychloroquine has a role at all in prevention or minimizing the severity of the illness in early infection or even in preventing it. She says: We don’t know that as yet. And we need to complete those large trials and get the data, she said, referring to several other trials not being conducted by WHO.
Hopes for vaccine by end of next year
The chief scientist at the World Health Organization says the agency hopes there will be about 2 billion doses of a vaccine against COVID-19 by the end of next year that would be reserved for priority populations.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan told a press briefing: It’s a big if because we don’t have any vaccine that’s proven. She said that because of the numerous vaccine candidates currently being tested, WHO hoped at least some might prove ready for use next year. Swaminathan said that WHO recommends immunizing people at risk first, including the elderly and those with underlying conditions like diabetes or respiratory disease, as well as key workers. (AP)