Vaccine won’t end coronavirus right away: Health experts

SEOUL: The local health experts have said that the novel coronavirus pandemic will not end right away even with the development of a vaccine, and lockdowns will not help root out the virus in the long term.

The country reported 280 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Tuesday, with unknown infection routes straining the country’s virus fight and stoking concerns over the possible second wave of the pandemic. Since August 14, new daily infections have been in triple digits, with most cases being centered on the greater Seoul area and more being reported across the nation.

“A vaccine is expected as early as next spring,” said Oh Myoung-don, head of the country’s central clinical committee for emerging disease control. Despite the medical community’s high hopes that a vaccine is imminent, there is also skepticism that it may give people unrealistic expectations about how soon the world can return to normal.

“There is no guarantee on the effectiveness and safety of vaccines,” Oh said, adding that a vaccine itself will not immediately end the current pandemic. The coronavirus infects the upper respiratory tract, which is a hard area to target for a vaccine, as it is considered an external surface for the purposes of immunization.

The highest anti-virus curbs can be issued when the number of daily virus cases reaches a two-week average of 100-200 and the doubling of new COVID-19 cases occurs more than twice a week.