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“There is a large group of people like me who are naturally protected against the virus because they have been sick themselves. In addition, there will soon be a group of people who will be vaccinated. You can’t tell people who have been vaccinated to stay at home, can you? Or have to wear a mouth mask? If nothing changes, why would anyone get vaccinated? ”
That is why he argues in an article today RTL for the introduction of an ‘immune passport’, a document that gives certain privileges. “Like not wear a mouth mask, or are no longer bound by travel restrictions. Otherwise it is of no use to vaccinate people, ”says Thierry Wauters.
Epidemiologist Yves Van Laethem, the French-speaking spokesman at the press briefings about the corona figures, already told RTL that such a document is not on the agenda. “It is not yet clear how long someone is protected with antibodies,” says Van Laethem. “That’s right,” says Wauters. “But then you start with a period of three months. As knowledge grows, the valid term of an immune passport can extend to a year or more. ”
“Who sells nonsense”
Steven Van Gucht also rejects Thierry Wauters’ proposal. “Nonsense”, says the virologist from Sciensano. “That is clearly a cardiologist, and not an infectiologist, virologist or epidemiologist. Cardiologists would stick better to cardiology. ”
According to Van Gucht, vaccination is mainly done to protect against the (serious forms of the) disease. “Many vaccines protect us against disease, but not necessarily against infection with the virus itself,” he explains. “We do expect and hope that people with antibodies or some other form of immunity will be protected against the more severe form of the disease. That they no longer end up in the hospital. ”
Limitations of Antibody Tests
“In addition, antibody tests also have limitations,” says Van Gucht. ‘Their positive predictive value is currently around 80 to 90 percent. This means that 10 to 20 percent of the people who test positive do not actually have antibodies. ”
“Moreover, there is no guarantee that people who do have antibodies will not be infected a second time. Usually, after a few months or after a year, antibodies sink to a level where you can become susceptible to infection again. There are already known examples of second infections in people with antibodies. ”
Risk behavior
Virologist Marc Van Ranst does not like such an immune passport either. “An ‘immune passport’ leads to a dystopian society and to people who deliberately engage in risky behavior in order to get those coveted antibodies. Bad idea ”, it sounds on Twitter.
Also read:
Poverty in times of corona: “My husband fell in love with someone else, I got sick and then the restaurant where I work went bankrupt. Now I have to go to the food bank ” (+)
Hilde (52) respected all safety regulations. Still she got sick, and how: “Corona changes your life in one second” (+)
Writer Stefan Brijs (50) moved to a Spanish village: “The lockdown was a party for me”
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