COVID-19 vaccination development and delivery has been "quite extraordinary," says the World Health Organization's public health physician Margaret Harris, who pointed to the big strides made in understanding the virus in such a short amount of time. 

The numbers are grim, with more than 2.6 million coronavirus deaths globally, from over 118 million cases in 219 countries and territories. Little was known about the virus when it was declared a pandemic a year ago but now there is a better understanding of the pathogen with treatments and vaccines.

"In too many people, it can lead to severe disease and we need to manage that effectively. We do now have treatments for that, we have anti-inflammatories but we don't have a drug yet that can actually kill the virus itself," said Harris.

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Scientists worked around the clock to produce vaccines and in just one year, over a dozen have been approved for use around the world, with more than 268 million doses having been administered globally. 

Harris says it's an impressive achievement.

"Double the number of people who've developed COVID have already been vaccinated, which is quite extraordinary in just a few months," she said.

It has not been plain sailing and concerns have been raised about some of the vaccines. A number of countries, including Denmark and Norway, have suspended the use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca jab following reports that a small number of people had developed blood clots after receiving the vaccine. 

However, the European Union's medicines regulator says there is no indication that there's a link, adding the percentage of blood clots in vaccinated people is no higher than in the general population. 

Harris says she's not surprised that some countries have decided to take precautionary measures. 

"Temporary halts are normal when you see any kind of events. You want to ensure they are not linked to the vaccination. It's normal to put a pause, just to review that," she continued.

Efforts to vaccinate the most at-risk groups through COVAX are also gaining momentum, with Harris pointing to 35 countries that now have received jabs.

"The critical thing isn't just getting it to the countries, but part of COVAX is a lot of work on country readiness, to ensure that countries, when they receive the vaccines, are actually able to use them and distribute them effectively, and we're seeing that happen," she said.

So, as more and more people are gaining access to jabs, what are the chances of eliminating the virus? Harris says while the vaccine is a great tool, it needs to be used in conjunction with public health and social measures, such as testing, tracing and isolating. 

"In the countries where leaders have really galvanized their people, we have explained clearly what needs to be done. They have been able to bring their outbreaks right down and that was before they had access to any vaccines. So we know we can beat this but it is very hard work," she concluded.