British … Experts Excited About Vaccination Warn “They Still Wear a Mask”

“It’s not over until it’s over”

The UK has started the world’s first comprehensive vaccination against the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), but quarantine authorities around the world remain tense. This is due to concerns that if the personal quarantine is loosened due to the expectation that “you can see the end of the tunnel,” it may call for further proliferation. The British government has also repeatedly warned that vaccines must wear masks.

On the 5th, a shopping street in London, England, is packed with people. [로이터=연합뉴스]

According to the British Daily Telegraph on the 8th (local time) Sir Patrick Balances, the government’s top scientific adviser, stressed that even if the entire population is vaccinated, for the time being, the use of masks and social distancing must be strictly observed.

“There is still a lack of evidence that the coronavirus vaccine completely prevents the virus,” he said. “It shouldn’t be reduced.” Following He cautioned that if you just believe in the vaccine and relax, you may have to wear a mask next winter.

Julian Tang, emeritus professor of respiratory sciences at the University of Leicester, UK, said: “If the efficacy of the vaccine is low, you are at risk because it is not adequately protected. I can do it.”

Margaret Keenan (90, left) from the UK, who became Pfizer’s first public vaccinator for the COVID-19 vaccine, will receive the vaccine in her left arm on the 8th (local time). [AP=연합뉴스]

British Health Minister Matt Hancock also made it clear that even those who have been vaccinated should not remove their masks.

In particular, he asked to follow the quarantine measures calmly on Christmas the 25th. The Pfizer vaccine, against which the UK was vaccinated, can only be expected to be effective until the second vaccination is completed 3 weeks after the first. The UK plans to inoculate millions of people before Christmas, but all are limited to the first dose. Minister Hancock repeatedly urged: “Please note that you will not be fully protected until January, when the second vaccination will take place.”

The British government said vaccination has started but has no plans to ease quarantine control measures, but rather to more closely monitor the spread of the virus.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock. [로이터=연합뉴스]

It is because of “uncertainty” that tension cannot be released. The Corona 19 vaccine developed at high speed in approximately 11 months after the onset of infectious disease. Despite the rapid progression to the phase 3 trial in an instep fire situation, it has the weakness that safety and efficacy have not been fully verified early enough like other vaccines.

In the case of a vaccine (AstraZeneca vaccine), which is being jointly developed by the University of Oxford in the UK and a multinational pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, it is in further verification status after noting that there was an error in the testing process.

The Corona 19 vaccine is being developed jointly by the University of Oxford in the UK and AstraZeneca. [로이터=연합뉴스]

Reporter Lee Min-jung [email protected]