Coronavirus Gets Official Name; WHO Updates When First Vaccine Will be Ready

The World Health Organisation has announced that the novel Coronavirus will be given the official name of COVID 19. The organisation further said that though the virus posed a very serious threat to the world's community, there was also a realistic chance of stopping it.

"We now have a name for the disease and it's COVID-19," World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.

Notably, "co" stands for "corona", "vi" for "virus" and "d" for "disease", while "19" for the year, as the outbreak was first identified on December 31, 2019.

Notably, the name has been chosen to avoid references to a specific geographical location, animal species or group of people in line with international recommendations for naming aimed at preventing stigmatisation.

The virus has killed more than 1,000 people, infected over 42,000 and penetrated to some 25 countries, prompting WHO to declare it as a global health emergency.

"Viruses can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist action,” said Ghebreyesus.

"We are not defenceless," Ghebreyesus said, adding: "If we invest now... we have a realistic chance of stopping this outbreak."

Earlier, this week, WHO sent an advance team to China for an international mission to examine the epidemic. However, it is not known if the team would be able to visit Wuhan, the epicentre of the daily virus, since it has been under a lockdown.

Significantly, there is no vaccine available so far to treat the virus and WHO is urging countries to come up with research and share the same.

"That is especially true in relation to sharing of samples and sequences. To defeat this outbreak, we need open and equitable sharing, according to the principles of fairness and equity," Ghebreyesus said. It is speculated that the first vaccine would be ready in about 18 months.