WASHINGTON • The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that vaccines will be no magic bullet for the coronavirus crisis as nations gear up for a massive roll-out to tackle surging infections.
The word of caution comes as the United States clocked a record number of Covid-19 cases for a second day in a row, with the country preparing for what US President-elect Joe Biden calls a "dark winter".
America's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday recommended "universal face mask use" indoors, and Mr Biden said he would scale down his January inauguration ceremony to mitigate the virus risk.
This comes as countries prepare for the approval and roll-out of several vaccines that have proven effective in trials.
The WHO, however, warned against vaccine complacency and what it said was an erroneous belief that the Covid-19 crisis is over with jabs on the horizon.
"Vaccines do not equal zero Covid," said WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, adding that not everyone will be able to receive it early next year.
"Vaccination will add a major, major, powerful tool to the tool kit that we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job."
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said progress on vaccines signalled "light at the end of the tunnel". But he warned against the "growing perception that the pandemic is over", with the virus still spreading fast, putting enormous pressure on hospitals.
The WHO says 51 candidate vaccines are currently being tested on humans, with 13 reaching final-stage mass testing.
Britain last Wednesday became the first Western country to approve an inoculation, from Pfizer-BioNTech, for general use.
British medical chiefs said the arrival of the vaccine from this week should see deaths reduce "significantly" by early next year, but warned that social mixing over Christmas could cause another spike before then. "By spring, the effects of vaccination will begin to be felt in reducing Covid admissions, attendances and deaths significantly but there are many weeks before we get to that stage."
Italy is seeing a dramatic resurgence of infections after it largely tamped down an earlier outbreak by enforcing a strict lockdown, while Latin America and the Caribbean have seen an 18 per cent spike in cases in a week.
Other nations are unveiling holiday restrictions, with Switzerland banning Christmas carolling in the streets and Madrid cancelling most New Year events in the city centre.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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