Suara.com – The whole society is now waiting vaccine which is effective for stopping the corona virus or Covid-19.
However, the head of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield, calls that using face mask far more effective at protecting against than vaccines.
“I have said so far that masks are more guaranteed to protect me from Covid-19 than getting the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said as quoted by ANTARA, Sunday (20/9/2020).
According to him, masks are currently the most important medical tool. Many studies have supported the effectiveness of masks in preventing transmission of the corona virus.
In fact, one study in the journal BMJ Global Health found the use of masks in Beijing’s public households was associated with less spread of COVID-19.
“Viruses need a way to be transmitted from person to person and now there is data to support the use of masks as a form of source control, especially in those with symptoms,” said Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Maryland. Health, Sunday.
Masks are a very effective physical barrier at eliminating the virus’s ability to pass from person to person.
Adalja reminded that the first generation of the COVID-19 vaccine was not so that all who received it were immune to infection. Rather, it is to modify the disease so that the severity and need for hospitalization are lower.
“Infection among those vaccinated will still occur. The infection will be less frequent and less severe, “he said.
So, the approved Covid-19 vaccine will only be one part of a multi-layered approach. Adalja argues that wearing face masks and practicing physical distancing in public must still be done when the first vaccine is available.
Apart from that, there is also concern that a vaccine may be only 50 percent effective at giving people a false sense of security. This condition causes the spread of the virus even more because other precautions are not taken.
Adalja said that in time the first generation of COVID-19 vaccines will be replaced by vaccines that provide immunity like the measles vaccine.
This means the immune system will be able to stop the virus from multiplying in the body. But no one knows how long it could last and it could be several years.
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