World Health Organization:
'Covid-19 isn't the big one – it's a wake-up call
'While they welcome the rollout of vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus, medical experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are sounding a note of caution, warning that the current epidemic is “not necessarily the big one,” and that countries should be devoting time and resources to preparing for the next epidemic, which is certain to arrive sooner or later.
Speaking at the WHO’s final media briefing for 2020 this week, Dr. Mark Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies program, said, “This pandemic has been very severe … but it is not necessarily the big one. This is a wake-up call. We’re learning how to do things better – science, logistics, training … but we live in an increasingly complex global society. These threats will continue.”
[…] [read entire blurb if you’re so inclined at link]
“It remains to be seen how well the vaccines are taken up,” he added. “The existence of a vaccine, even at high efficacy, is no guarantee of eliminating or eradicating an infectious disease. That is a very high bar for us to be able to get over … [it’s something of a] moonshot to potentially be able to eliminate this virus.”
He and Swaminathan both focused on using vaccines to protect the vulnerable, and played down the likelihood of measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing becoming things of the past.
“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,” Swaminathan said. “So I think we need to assume that people who have been vaccinated also need to take the same precautions.”
“Fortunately, we have tools to save lives, and these in combination with good public health will permit us to learn to live with Covid-19,” Professor David Heymann concluded.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/293919
____________________________________
BTW:
WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus may face genocide charges
WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyseus is accused of aiding genocide in Ethiopia: Nobel peace prize nominee lodges complaint with International Criminal Court
- American economist David Steinman accused WHO chief of being one of three officials who directed Ethopia's security forces from 2013 to 2015
- Tedros, who denies the allegations, was Ethiopia's foreign minister until 2016
- The complaint was lodged at the International Criminal Court in the Hague
Ethiopia accuses WHO chief Tedros of backing Tigray rebels. https://news.yahoo.com/ethiopia-accuses-head-tedros-backing-100415504.html
Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epidemics
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/health/candidate-who-director-general-ethiopia-cholera-outbreaks.html. The accusation against Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was made by a prominent global health expert who is also an informal adviser to Dr. David Nabarro, a rival candidate in the race for W.H.O. director general.
Dr. Tedros, who uses his first name in his campaign, denied the cover-up accusation and said he was “not surprised at all but quite disappointed” that Dr. Nabarro’s camp — which he said included high-ranking British health officials — had switched to running what he called a “last-minute smear campaign.”
ALSO:
BBC says: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55001328
No comments:
Post a Comment