Two infectious disease experts, Angela L. Rasmussen and Saskia V. Popescu from the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center have said that vaccine alone might not be able to control the COVID19 pandemic. They have said that as vaccines are readily accessible across the US, they might be able to protect people from getting the COVID19 disease. However, protection against the asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is crucial to end the pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 virus leads to COVID19 disease. The authors of the study have said that identifying the actual spread capacity of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases is innately difficult. However, the knowledge gap should not divert from recognizing their role in the spread of the virus. Both of them have seen that asymptomatic transmission silently forces viral spread and it needs to be tackled properly to end the COVID19 pandemic. Dr. Angela L. Rasmussen has said that health officials should not solely depend on vaccines for preventing the spread of the pandemic further. The authors of the report have claimed that vaccines might be able to protect people from the virus but it is uncertain how vaccines will act to prevent further spread of the virus.
Experts who have been involved in the study have said that from a biological viewpoint, it might be impossible that a vaccine, which prevents the disease, would not prevent further infection, but as vaccines do not provide full immunity against the disease, they would not be hundred percent effective in preventing the spread of the virus as well. The authors of the report have said that though vaccines will be widely available by summer in the US, this is not the same for the rest of the world. Most developing countries are still struggling to get an effective vaccine for COVID19. Due to the large populations and limited resources, vaccine rollout program in these countries is a huge matter of concern.
Dr. Saskia V. Popescu, who is a co-author of the study, has claimed that symptomless and pre-symptomatic spread of the virus poses a huge threat to public health and infection prevention mitigation plans. Health experts have said that as we move forward into the next phase of the COVID19 plague and a declining stage of infection due to vaccination, the officials need to keep a close watch on it. They have noted that an extensive execution of robust surveillance and epidemiological actions is needed to fully quench the pandemic. The findings of the report have been released in the journal called Science.
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