The large-scale global distribution of vaccines against Covid-19 is not expected until mid-2021, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan told a press briefing on Friday.
She said that the second half or the middle of 2021 looks like a realistic bet when "we can start seeing doses actually flowing into countries so that they can start to immunize their populations,” Swaminathan said. This timeline is based on the fact that Phase 3 trials of many candidate vaccines are not expected to be concluded until the end of the current year, the WHO’s chief scientist added.