WHO warns vaccinated travellers could still need to be quarantined

[Mary Wilson]

By Latika Bourke
December 29, 2020 — 6.15am

London: World Health Organisation scientists say that the vaccines being rolled out are extremely unlikely to eradicate COVID-19.

The warning poses particular challenges for countries that have aimed to eliminate community transmission through tough border bans, enforced quarantine and lockdowns such as Australia and New Zealand.

Some of the countries with the greatest coronavirus outbreaks have begun vaccinating the public, including Britain and the United States.

WHO's chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan told a virtual press conference that there was no evidence yet that people who had been vaccinated could enter countries such as Australia without the risk of spreading the disease.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1609188993

 

[sharon sanders]

snip

WHO's chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan told a virtual press conference that there was no evidence yet that people who had been vaccinated could enter countries such as Australia without the risk of spreading the disease.

Asked by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age what this would mean for Australia's quarantine program, Swaminathan said "I don't believe we have the evidence on any of the vaccines to be confident that it's going to prevent people from actually getting the infection and therefore being able to pass it on".

"We need to assume that people who have been vaccinated also need to take the same precautions till there's a certain level of herd immunity. This is a dynamic in an evolving field."

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...l-need-to-be-quarantined-20201229-p56qk3.html