Virus could last indefinitely despite vaccine rollout: EU

STOCKHOLM UAE reports 2,631 cases and 15 deaths; over 5m doses of vaccine administered; 2 held for flouting COVID-19 rules; Oxford varsity to test vaccine on children for first time; Lebanon gets first batch of vaccines; Europe’s death toll crosses 800,000.

Participants in action during a community-run, organised by Sharjah Sports Council, in University City on Friday. WAM ↑

The head of the EU’s disease control agency has warned that the novel coronavirus could last indefinitely even as global infections slowed by nearly half in the last month and vaccine rollouts gathered pace in parts of the world.

In an interview, ECDC chief Andrea Ammon urged European countries in particular not to drop their guard against a virus that “seems very well adapted to humans” and may require experts to tweak vaccines over time, as is the case with the seasonal flu.

“So we should be prepared that it will remain with us,” according to Ammon, head of the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

After the latest harsh wave of a pandemic that started in China more than a year ago, glimmers of hope flickered as a database showed the rate of new COVID-19 infections has slowed by 44.5 per cent worldwide over the past month.

But disease experts warned that vaccines won’t end the pandemic unless all countries receive doses in a fast and fair manner.