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Reuters
Dr. Gabrieus said allowing the virus to spread causes “unnecessary” suffering
The head of the World Health Organization has rejected the mob’s immune response to the epidemic.
When a large part of the community develops immunity through vaccination or large-scale spread of the disease, the flock becomes immune.
Some have argued that the coronavirus should be allowed to spread naturally in the absence of a vaccine.
But WHO chief Tedros Brebreyes said such an approach was “scientifically and ethically problematic”.
There have been more than 37 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide since the epidemic began. More than a million people are known to have died.
Hundreds of vaccines are currently being developed, with many advanced tests, yet no one has received international approval.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Dr. G. Hebrews argued that the long-term effects of coronavirus – as well as the strength and duration of any immune response – remained unknown.
“The immunity of the flock is gained by protecting it from the virus, not by exposing it to it,” he said.
“Never in the history of public health has the mob’s immune system been used as a strategy to respond to an epidemic outbreak, let alone an epidemic.”
The WHO chief added that seroprevalence tests – where blood is tested for antibodies – suggested that only 10% of people in most countries have been exposed to the coronavirus.
“Letting the Covid-19 circulation uncheck means allowing unnecessary infection, suffering and death,” he said.
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