Covid to be like the common cold – one day, says AstraZeneca vaccine co-designer
It is likely that Covid-19 will become just like the common cold, the professor who co-designed the AstraZeneca vaccine has said.
However, the big question remains as to how long it will take to get there, Dame Sarah Gilbert explained.
Speaking to a Royal Society of Medicine webinar, Gilbert assured that Covid-19 will “eventually” become just like other strains of coronavirus.
“We already live with four different human coronaviruses that we don’t really ever think about very much and eventually Sars-CoV-2 will become one of those.
“It’s just a question of how long it’s going to take to get there and what measures we’re going to have to take to manage it in the meantime.”
The UK is currently bracing for the winter ahead, as the season is already a challenging time for the NHS.
In the Government’s autumn and winter Covid-19 response plan, published last week, it cautioned that: “This winter could be particularly difficult due to the impacts of Covid-19 on top of the usual increase in emergency demand and seasonal respiratory diseases such as influenza (flu).
“It is a realistic possibility that the impact of flu, and other seasonal viruses, may be greater this winter than in a normal winter due to very low levels of flu over winter 2020-21.
The Government strategy added that there is “considerable uncertainty” over how these pressures will interact with the impact of Covid-19.