Are face-masks the new 'corona vaccine?'

USA: In a recent briefing CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Director, Robert Redfield told that wearing a face mask could be more effective in preventing an individual coronavirus infection than getting a vaccine. He told that masks may prove to be better than the much-awaited vaccine

He further said, "I'm not gonna comment directly about the president, but I am going to comment as the CDC director that face masks, these face masks, are the most important powerful public health tool we have," Redfield replied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOClXAg9nQU

This cleared the recent controversy in Pakistan, where many experts mulled over the decrease in COVID-19 cases. Using the best defence against COVID-19, masks in public hence could be the reason for the decline in COVID-19 cases.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that most of the American public will not have access to a vaccine against the novel coronavirus until late spring or summer of next year — prompting a public rebuke from President Trump, who declared the CDC chief was wrong.

At a Senate hearing on the government’s response to the pandemic, CDC Director Robert Redfield adhered to Trump’s oft-stated contention that a safe and effective vaccine will become available in November or December — perhaps just before the presidential election seven we

But Trump at his briefing continued to cast doubt on the value of masks, saying, “The mask is a mixed bag.”

Redfield’s comments were the most detailed time frame outlined so far by the leader of the government’s main public health agency. They are consistent with the perspective of Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said in a recent interview with CNN that relatively small amounts of the vaccine will be available at first.

“It won’t be until we get into 2021 that you’ll have hundreds of millions of doses, and just the logistics, constraints in vaccinating large numbers of people,” Fauci said. “It’s going to take months to get enough people vaccinated to have an umbrella of immunity over the community so that you don’t have to worry about easy transmission.”

-DN Report

The author is Editor at Dental News Pakistan and can be reached at newsdesk@medicalnewsgroup.com.pk