No “Silver Bullet” For Covid-19 Till Now, Warns WHO


08/03/2020



There might never be a “silver bullet” for the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization warned on Monday, and said that there can perhaps never be a perfect vaccine for the disease. The WHO also said that a reset of strategy might be required for some countries.
 
So far, over than 18.14 million people all around the world have been infected by the disease with about 688,080 having died of the disease. And many of the countries that had thought that the worst was over for them are experiencing resurgence in infections.
 
Countries were urged to rigorously enforce health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, hand-washing and testing by the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan.
 
“The message to people and governments is clear: ‘Do it all’,” Tedros told a virtual news briefing from the UN body’s headquarters in Geneva. Face coverings and masks should become a symbol of solidarity round the world, he said.
 
“A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment – and there might never be.”
 
Since the early 20th century, the novel coronavirus induced Covid-19 is the biggest health emergency that the world has faced and the rush to find a vaccine for the disease is also being done at an unprecedented level, The WHO head said.
 
However the uncertainties associated with the disease and its vaccine were underscored by the WHO.
 
“There are concerns that we may not have a vaccine that may work, or its protection could be for just a few months, not more. But until we finish the clinical trials, we will not know,” Tedros said.
 
Those countries that are grappling with high rates of transmission such as Brazil and India, needed to brace for a big battle, Ryan said.
 
“The way out is long and requires a sustained commitment,” he said while also calling for governments to “reset” their approach to the disease in some cases.
 
“Some countries are really going to have to take a step back now and really take a look at how they are addressing the pandemic within their national borders,” he added.
 
When asked about the current state of the disease in the United States, which according to White House coronavirus experts is entering a “new phase”, Ryan said that the “right path” seemed to have been set out by officials and that it was not the WHO’s job to do so.
 
An advance investigation team from the WHO probing the origin of the novel coronavirus in China had completed its mission in the country and had laid out the groundwork for further probes into identifying the actual and exact place and mode of origins of the virus.
 
This investigation was one of the main demands that the United States, the top donor for the WHO, had been making even as the country has announced its plans to exit the WHO next year over allegations that the international body was too yielding and submissive to China.
 
About pinpointing the origin of the virus, the WHO now plans to set up a larger team of Chinese and international experts led by the WHO which will conduct investigations in the city of Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus had first emerged.  However the WHJO did not clarify the timing and the composition of the team. Despite china already sharing some information,. There were still knowledge gaps, Ryan said.
 
(Source:www.news18.com)