Corona experts: No return to normal through vaccination
Scientists are dampening hope for a corona vaccine. The researchers warn that everything will not go as quickly as expected.

An effective vaccine against COVID-19 is often seen as the Holy Grail that will end the coronavirus pandemic. Both Minister of Health Rudolf Anschober and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz regularly give the population hope for a vaccine that would bring them back to normal.

But a report by the British Royal Society thwarted these hopes. One should remain realistic about what can be achieved with an effective corona vaccine, according to the scientists involved.

Numerous open questions
"Even if such a vaccine is available, it does not mean that everyone can be vaccinated within a month. We are talking about 6 months, 9 months, a year," said Nilay Shah of Imperial College London as quoted by the BBC. One challenge, for example, is that the RNA vaccines in question have never been produced in such a mass.

This raises questions about whether there are enough raw materials available, whether there are enough laboratory tools for it or whether there are enough cooling facilities for such a vaccine at all. Because some active ingredients have to be stored at temperatures of -80 degrees Celsius.

In addition, the vaccination would have to be 10 times faster than the annual flu vaccination. Vaccinating would be a full-time job for around 30,000 trained health workers, Shah estimates. He doubts that the responsible politicians and authorities have given it enough thought.

The question of immunity
"We just don't know when an effective vaccine against COVID-19 will be available. We don't know how effective this substance will be, nor how quickly it can be distributed," said Charles Bangham, chief immunologist at Imperial College London across from the BBC.

Also the question of how long a possible immunity from a vaccination will last. But that is a particularly critical question when it comes to returning to normal, said Bangham.

In addition, it is unclear how one should deal with people who refuse to be vaccinated, says Andrew Preston of the University of Bath: "Are we just leaving these people to their own devices or is a vaccination mandatory in order to be able to attend school or nursing homes?" says Preston. In any case, particularly difficult questions would arise.