The much-awaited vaccine has started the cellular battle against Covid. Tourists will soon be flooding to newly-opened destinations. One shot and I’m good, right? Wrong.
And for once, a doctor responds to a vaccine question with, “Not sure”. Simply put, the main goal of the vaccine is to “prevent widespread death,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, the executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program.
As for the vaccine’s ability to stop transmission, Dr Ryan said, “There is just not enough information to make a conclusive determination.” A doctor admitting he doesn’t know? How refreshing.
At a Monday press briefing, WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan answered a reporter asking if those who are vaccinated posed a transmission threat. The doctor also stood on skeptical grounds.
In academic verbiage, Dr. Swaminathan said there is plenty yet to learn from vaccine trials, and we must wait for the results. The Chief stated, “Apart from preventing symptomatic disease and severe disease and deaths, (what we want to learn is) whether (vaccines) are also going to reduce infections or prevent people from getting infected with the virus…or transmitting it.”
Then came more the key fact. “At the moment I don’t believe we have the evidence on any of the vaccines to be confident that it’s going to prevent people from actually getting the infection and therefore being able to pass it on.”
According to Stray Nomad, “The warning poses challenges for countries that have aimed to eliminate community transmission through tough border bans, enforced quarantine, and lockdowns such as Australia and New Zealand.
“We all think that once we are vaccinated, we are not going to have to wear masks anymore, instead, scientists are saying that that for them it’s critical to know if we have to keep wearing masks, because we could still be contagious.”
Source: Stray Nomad, Joe Cusmano
