‘COVID may never get a silver bullet’ Dr. Tedros calls for caution as vaccine development continues

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that there is no, and may never be, a silver bullet against COVID-19.

Speaking at a press conference, the WHO DG stated that while there were vaccines in development vaccine, there would be no guarantee of it.

“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 is no silver bullet at the moment, and there might never be,” Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus warned.

The DG stated that stopping the COVID outbreak for now boiled down to the basics of public health and disease control measures.

To the governments, he said that that involved testing, isolating and treating positive cases, and tracing, testing then quarantining their contacts.

He also called on leaders to inform, empower and critically, listen to the communities.

On an individual level, Dr. Tedros reiterated adhering to the measures in place – wearing face masks, washing hands regularly, and keeping distance.

Even when under control, he urged people to keep going, as the disease could easily resurface as has happened in some places.

Indeed, China has seen new clusters sprout out in various cities in the country. Spain and Italy have also seen new cases in small clusters. But its never too late, he encouraged.

“We have seen around the world that it’s never too late to turn this pandemic around,” Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said.

COVID-19 has so far infected over 18 million people and killed over 700,000. Over 11 million have recovered.

Kenya has seen an exponential rise in COVID cases in the past few weeks, now standing at 22,597 cases.

Development of vaccines is going on in countless countries at the moment, with some now moving on to the last stage of trials.

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