Monitor News Desk
Experts are claiming that the Covid 19 pandemic is on its final legs.
Stephane Bancel, the Chief executive officer of Moderna, which developed the first anti-Covid vaccine, said it’s “reasonable” to assume that the world may be approaching the final stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview with CNBC, he said, “I think that is a reasonable scenario.” “There’s an 80% chance that as omicron evolves or SarsCov-2 virus evolves, we are going to see less and less virulent viruses,” he said.
Bancel also said that there’s another “20% scenario where we see a next mutation, which is more virulent than omicron.”
“I think we got lucky as a world that omicron was not very virulent, but still are we see thousands of people dying every day around the planet because of omicron,” he added.
Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had announced that it has granted full approval to Moderna’s Covid-19 “Spikevax” vaccine, which had previously received an emergency use authorization in the United States.
“The public can be assured that Spikevax meets the FDA’s high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required of any vaccine approved for use in the United States,” acting FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock had said.
“The FDA’s approval of Spikevax is a significant step in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, marking the second vaccine approved to prevent Covid-19,” Woodcock had noted.
The full approval of the Moderna vaccine is for individuals aged 18 or older.
The Moderna vaccine received an emergency use authorization in December 2020.
The full approval from the FDA concerns the first two doses of the Moderna vaccine. A booster dose remains under an emergency use authorization.
Last month, World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that it was dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would herald the end of Covid-19’s acutest phase, exhorting nations to stay focused to beat the pandemic.
“It’s dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last variant and that we are in the end game,” the WHO chief said at a meeting during the two-year pandemic that has killed around 60 lakh people.
“On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.”
“The Covid-19 pandemic is now entering its third year and we are at a critical juncture,” Ghebreyesus said at a press conference earlier. “We must work together to bring the acute phase of this pandemic to an end. We cannot let it continue to drag on, lurching between panic and neglect.”
