COVID-19 vaccine
COVID-19 vaccineiStock

The global death toll from COVID-19 could double to 2 million before a successful vaccine is widely used and could be even higher without concerted action to curb the pandemic, an official at the World Health Organization said on Friday, according to Reuters.

“Unless we do it (take concerted action) ... the number you speak about (2 million deaths) is not only imaginable, but sadly very likely,” Mike Ryan, head of the UN agency’s emergencies program, told a briefing on Friday.

The number of deaths about nine months since the novel coronavirus was discovered in China is nearing 1 million.

Ryan said young people should not be blamed for a recent increase in infections despite growing concerns that youths are driving its spread after restrictions and lockdowns were eased around the world.

“I really hope we don’t get into finger wagging: it’s all because of the youth,” said Ryan, as quoted by Reuters. “The last thing a young person needs is an old person pontificating and wagging the finger.”

Last week, Moderna announced it expects to produce 20 million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.

US President Donald Trump announced recently that the US government will purchase 100 million doses of Moderna’s experimental coronavirus vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipates that 35 million to 45 million doses of vaccines from the first two companies to receive authorization will be available in the United States by the end of this year.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)