The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday has warned all nations that there might never be a silver bullet for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), despite hope for possible vaccines for the ferocious disease.
“A number of vaccines are now in Phase III clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment and there might never be,” read an official statement by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“For now, stopping outbreaks comes down to the basics of public health and disease control,” he added.
WHO also urged all countries to implements the minimum health standards including wearing of face, social distancing, hand-washing and testing for the time being.
“Do it all. Inform, empower and listen to communities. Do it all. For individuals, it’s about keeping physical distance, wearing a mask, cleaning hands regularly and coughing safely away from others. Do it all,” Tedros reminded.
For his part, WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan said countries with high transmission rates such as Brazil and India need to be prepared for a big battle. “The way out is long and requires a sustained commitment,” he said.
According to public health data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, there were 18,102,671 confirmed COVID-19 infections as of this posting.