Dr. Somyaswaminasan, WHO Chief Scientist, says it is unclear what the COVID-19 vaccine actually does.

Dr. Somyaswaminasan, Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO), expressed skepticism at a WHO press conference on Monday about what the coronavirus vaccine actually does with regard to infectivity.

Reporters asked if vaccinated people traveling abroad would pose a risk of community infection if they visited places with limited community coverage.

“What we are learning now is that we are waiting for more vaccine test results. These vaccines not only prevent symptomatic and severe illness and death, but also reduce infection. It prevents people from getting infected with the virus and getting infected with other people, “says Swami Nasan.

“I don’t think there is any evidence that any vaccine can actually prevent people from getting infected and thereby take over the infection,” said WHO Chief Scientist. @doctorsoumya pic.twitter.com/QdTvzj7Nyd

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“At this point, I don’t think there is any evidence that any of the vaccines can actually prevent people from getting infected and thereby infect them,” Swaminasan said. “Until we know more, I think we need to assume that vaccinated people need to take the same precautions until a certain level of herd immunity is established in the population.”

Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO Executive Director of Health Emergencies Program expressed similar feelings, stating that the main goal of current vaccines is to prevent widespread death.

“I think it’s important to think about the main purpose of the vaccine as well. The first deployments are prevention of serious illness, prevention of death, protection of front-line healthcare workers, and of the most vulnerable people in society. It’s protection. “

Ryan said that when it comes to transmissibility, there is simply not enough information to make a definitive decision. (Related: Pollster: Despite the willingness to get a coronavirus vaccine, the majority of Americans are worried about side effects)

“We don’t fully understand the length of protection and other things that we can fully predict. I think we should be able to control the virus well.”

“The decision to move towards virus removal or eradication then requires a much higher degree of efficiency and effectiveness in vaccination programs and all other control measures,” Ryan said. “A likely scenario is that the virus … becomes another endemic virus. This remains some threat, but a low-level threat because of the global vaccination program. How much vaccine is I’m still not sure if it’s taken well. “

“The presence of a highly effective vaccine does not guarantee the eradication or eradication of infectious diseases,” he added, reiterating that the focus of the vaccine is to prevent death.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about what the vaccine will achieve. Mayo Clinic Keep in mind that vaccination can cause an antibody reaction in your body when infected and “may help protect the people around you.”

Pfizer And modern Both received FDA emergency use authorization after their trials showed that their vaccine had Effective rate 95% 94.1% In preventing new infections in vaccinated individuals, respectively.The Moderna vaccine has also been shown to prevent severe coronavirus symptoms, according to the report. New York Times (NYT). However, it is unclear whether the vaccine will have any effect on infectivity.

Both trials only tracked how many of the vaccinated participants became ill with COVID-19. According to the study, the trial did not track whether someone was vaccinated, infected, had no symptoms, and could eventually be passed on to someone else without their knowledge. right now..

According to the NYT, Stanford University immunologist Michal Tal said, “Many people think that once vaccinated, they no longer need to wear a mask.” “It will be really important to know if they need to keep wearing masks, as they can still be contagious.”