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New Zealand’s “powerful” collective action against Covid remains one of our best lines of defense, says Dr. Siouxsie Wiles.
Wiles, a microbiologist and science communicator at the University of Auckland, cautioned that holding out hope that a vaccine will bring life back “to what life was like in 2019” was unrealistic, and small individual actions like hand washing contributed to Systemic Covid-19. answer that it was “working very well”.
She said she became a microbiologist because she read a book when she was younger on microbial diseases and “naively thought it was all about the micro.”
“What I realize now is that the micro is only one part of what we call the triangle of disease, which is made up of the host, the environment, and the micro. [organism]. “
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He said that while scientific understanding of Covid-19 and better medical treatments or prevention were “obviously” important, last year he had shown that “frankly, we have methods that stop them. [diseases], and if we used them we would not need drugs or vaccines ”.
“The most important part of [disease] triangle is how people respond. “
BRADEN FASTIER / STUFF / Nelson Mail
Dr. Siouxsie Wiles said that people’s little collective actions – such as getting tested as soon as symptoms develop, washing their hands, wearing masks, and using the contact tracing app – were “powerful” layers of defense against Covid-19.
Wiles said that high hopes had been pinned that a Covid-19 vaccine would return to normal, but that she was cautious about that attitude, mostly because she believed that “there is no going back to what life was like in 2019.”
Another reason she was cautious about pinning all her hopes on a vaccine was that, depending on its efficacy, any vaccine developed might not be suitable for New Zealand.
“It completely depends on what the vaccine is like,” he said.
“An excellent one would prevent it from getting infected and have no ill effects, and if enough people take it, people who are too vulnerable to get it will be protected … [but] if there is a vaccine that still helps some people but not all, that means you will still have some cases. “
Wiles said a less effective vaccine could be a sure winner in places that had uncontrolled outbreaks, but for New Zealand, where the disease had emerged and been eliminated multiple times and twice without the need for a lockdown, it was not so clear.
“My real concern is those countries that are doing almost nothing, what does that mean for the type of vaccine we receive?
“If it’s not particularly effective, then it may not be what we want,” he said.
Cheryl Gerber / AP
Dr Siouxsie Wiles said she was concerned that a Covid-19 vaccine could be developed that would be effective enough for use in countries with mostly uncontrolled outbreaks that it might not be effective enough for New Zealand’s needs. .
“What I would hate would be if we had a vaccine that would still mean enough people would get sick and it would seriously affect them and spread in the community.”
He said New Zealand’s response so far showed that regardless of which vaccine was developed, everyone had a role to play in helping to prevent outbreaks. He said the answer is best explained with the “Swiss cheese model.”
“We have to think that each layer of defense has holes. The more layers we apply, the less likely we are to get the virus. “
She said New Zealand’s first layers of defense were national, things like border control and two-week isolation, but many were steps where people played a role, such as using the tracking app, washing hands. and wearing masks when socially estranged. It was not possible.
“[Covid-19] it has shown us how collective action is so powerful, ”he said.
“There are big layers, which are regional or national closures, but if we don’t want that to be the layer that we have to apply, then we have to do all the small ones, and we have to do them now while they are effective, not when we already know there is an outbreak. “
BRADEN FASTIER / Nelson Mail
Wiles said New Zealand’s defenses against Covid-19 were like layers of “Swiss cheese,” and seemingly small individual actions like wearing masks or washing hands were fundamental layers in that defense.
Wiles said she was frustrated by people labeling outbreaks large and small as “flaws” in New Zealand’s response.
“It’s not a flaw, it’s inherent flaws in the system, and we rush to detect them … every time this happens, we say ‘what have we learned and how we can do better’, and we improve.
“I’m trying to keep people out of the blame game … every time you have an infection and you call it it crashes, people lose confidence in the system, but it’s working really well.”
He said he hoped the stacked layers of defense would be necessary “at least for the next year.”
“It was the people who did more or less these things that helped me. Like the port worker recently, as soon as they felt sick, they went and had an exam; they didn’t wait a day to start work. That’s what really is important “.
Wiles will be a keynote speaker at Nelson’s 77th Annual Thomas Cawthron Memorial Conference, with the theme “Science Matters.”
His talk will focus on the importance of collaboration and communication in science.
It can be viewed online at www.cawthron.live as of 7pm today.
