The vaccine alone will not be enough to defeat the virus: WHO

“The quantities will initially be limited,” added Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the organization.

The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday, November 16, that a single vaccine will not be enough to defeat the covid-19 pandemic.

“A vaccine will complement the other tools we have, not replace them,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the executive board of the agency he heads.

This time he was present in the room, after being quarantined on November 2, for having been in contact with a person diagnosed positive for coronavirus.

Regarding the vaccine, the director general and other WHO directors have spent the last few days mitigating the optimism generated by the announcement of Pfizer and BioNTech that they have preliminary data for a phase III vaccine with an efficacy of 90. %.

“Initially, the numbers will be limited and then health workers, the elderly and those most at risk will be given priority, and we hope this will reduce the death toll and allow health systems to resist,” Ghebreyesus said.

“But this will still leave much room for the action of the virus,” he warned, and consequently urged not to abandon measures that prevent the spread of the virus, such as tests, quarantines or compliance with health prevention measures.