As many around the world anxiously await for a vaccine for Covid-19, one the leading experts on this virus said that the discovery of a vaccine is not a foregone conclusion.

Dr. David Nabarro is a professor at Imperial College London and also a special envoy to the World Health Organization (WHO) for this virus.

While Dr. Nabarro was not trying to be an alarmist, he made it clear that when dealing with viruses, it simply may have no vaccines that humans can create to fend it off.

Moreover, he warned that the dreaded lockdowns and social distancing measures may be the new normal in a post-pandemic world as well, especially if a vaccine or treatment does not become available. He said that the next outbreak may affect a portion or the entirety of a country.

Dr. Nabarro’s comment comes as the global community anxiously waits for scientists to come up with vaccines for this novel coronavirus. From mRNA targeting efforts that are being tested in the US to an Oxford University team testing Chimpanzee viruses, a global race is taking place.

Most governments around the world have said that restrictions on the elderly will only be fully lifted after a vaccine or treatment has been introduced, although no one knows when that will be.

All of his statements comes from an interview that the professor had with CNN. Nabarro emphasized that there have been diseases in the past for which humanity couldn’t produce a safe vaccine.

What he seemed to worry was the sense of despair that would prevail when “your hopes are dashed”. He also explained that lockdown measures could be reinstated at any point without warning by the government.

British cabinet member Michael Gove’s recent statement corroborates with Dr. Nabarro’s analysis. Gove has stated that the UK will adopt a so-called ‘whack-a-mole’ strategy, where lockdowns could be reinstated on a regional basis should there be subsequent outbreaks of the virus.

ICL, where Dr. Nabarro teaches at, was one of the institutions that first called for government action against the pandemic. We certainly hope that we could return to our lives before the pandemic. Share your thoughts on this story with us in the comments, and be sure to follow us on Facebook for follow-ups.

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