Dr Margaret Harris, a World Health Organization official, says that only public health measures, not vaccines, can prevent a new surge of COVID-19 cases. This is as the United Kingdom administers the first vaccines.

Reuters reports that responding to a question at a Geneva briefing regarding whether the vaccines would come in time to avert a third wave of coronavirus infections in Europe, Harris said, “Vaccines are a great tool, they will be very helpful, but the effect of the vaccine in providing some kind of immune barrier is still far off.” According to the WHO, public health measures include physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, keeping your hands clean, and coughing into a bent elbow or a tissue.

Meanwhile, also at the briefing, pharmaceutical company Roche’s Chief Executive Severin Schwan said that very little was known about the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines, and about for how long they could be effective. He stressed the importance of testing, saying, “…..diagnostics will remain very important, not only for the months to come but  years to come.”

Umm Muhammed Umar