COVID-19 Vaccine At Least 12 Months Off: WHO

The number of new cases of COVID-19 is growing in several areas of Europe, including Italy and Spain, but outbreaks are still on the rise in Britain and Turkey, said the World health organization (WHO) on Tuesday.

"The overall world outbreak, 90 percent of cases are coming from Europe and the United States of America. So we are certainly not seeing the peak yet," WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris told a briefing in Geneva.

The WHO will issue guidelines to the Member States later in the day outlining six measures that need to be taken to ensure that they are in effect before beginning to relax any constraints, she said.

"The most important one is, is your transmission controlled?"

The United States has the largest epidemic currently and has been a "fantastic partner" in addition to being the largest donor to the WHO, Harris said.

"There will always be criticisms of organizations, it's important to listen to criticism especially constructive criticism," she said. "And our work will go on regardless of any kind of issues."

On Monday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, expressed trust that the United States will help to finance the UN. Agency, following President Donald Trump's skepticism of the WHO's treatment of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Russia has been China's main source of infected diseases, with a minimum of 409 illnesses originating from its northern neighbor.

"China, in fact, is now really focusing on looking at - apart from making sure that there are no new local cases - but their biggest threat is imported cases," Harris said.

On vaccines, Harris said: "We really shouldn't be expecting to see the vaccine at least for 12 months or longer."

Source: Reuters