COVID-19: Be Prepared For 2 Years Of Disciplined Behaviour, Says WHO

New Delhi: Soumya Swaminathan Chief Scientist of World Health Organisation (WHO), feels that the coronavirus is here to stay.

“We should plan and be mentally prepared for another two years of disciplined behaviour as the vaccine for the virus gets scaled up,” Swaminathan said at a discussion organized by Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“We can be hopeful that there will be vaccines from the middle of next year, but it will be in limited supply. It will only go to high-risk people like frontline workers and health care workers followed by the elderly. We are at least two years from the entire population being able to get a vaccine,” she opined.

Emphasizing on the importance of identifying clusters and large gatherings that have the potential to spread the virus, she said: “When we look at countries that have succeeded (in controlling the spread of virus) we have to go after the virus where it is present. Then it is easier (to prevent the spread of virus) than it becomes a community transmission,” she was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.

Swaminathan said that people must avoid three Cs — close unventilated space (indoor), crowded places (like congregations) and close physical contacts — like what Japan did.

The fourth C would be to identify clusters and contain them before they start community spread. “This is what we need to keep doing. The responsibility is on the government and the citizens to do this for the foreseeable future,” she observed.