The coronavirus vaccine is ‘likely to be imperfect’ and ‘might not prevent infection’, the UK Vaccine Taskforce Chair has warned.
Kate Bingham says that the first generation of Covid-19 vaccines ‘might not work for everyone.’
Writing in The Lancet, she said: "However, we do not know that we will ever have a vaccine at all. It is important to guard against complacency and over-optimism.”
"The first generation of vaccines is likely to be imperfect, and we should be prepared that they might not prevent infection but rather reduce symptoms, and, even then, might not work for everyone or for long," she added.
Ms Bingham wrote that the Vaccine Taskforce recognises that "many, and possibly all, of these vaccines could fail", adding the focus has been on vaccines that are expected to elicit immune responses in the population older than 65 years.
She said that the global manufacturing capacity for vaccines is vastly inadequate for the billions of doses that are needed and that the United Kingdom's manufacturing capability to date has been "equally scarce".
Earlier this week, a study by scientists at Imperial College London found that antibodies against the novel coronavirus declined rapidly in the British population during the summer, suggesting protection after infection may not be long lasting and raising the prospect of waning immunity in the community.
The study estimated just 4.4% of adults had some form of immunity against Covid-19 in September, when cases began to increase again.
This is compared with 6% found to have antibodies between June 20 and July 13, and 4.8% between July 31 and August 31.
The number of people with antibodies fell by 26.5 per cent over three months, according to research commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The study involved more than 365,000 randomly selected adults in England who used finger prick antibody tests at home.
Between 20 June and 28 September, the proportion of people who tested positive for antibodies dropped from six per cent of the population to 4.4 per cent.
This suggests antibodies reduce in the weeks or months after a person is infected, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
