World is ‘foolish’ to assume vaccines will save us from mutant Covid variants, warns Nobel Prize winners
A PAIR of Nobel Prize winning scientists have warned that the world is “foolish” to assume vaccines will save us from Covid mutations, amid the chaos in India.
Dr Abhijit Banerjee and Dr Esther Duflo suggested that leaders and scientists may need to prepare new booster shots, new vaccines, masks and consider slowing down the reopening of society.
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Scientists have warned that the world is “foolish” to assume vaccines will save us from Covid mutations, amid the chaos in India.[/caption] They called on governments to to prepare new booster shots, new vaccines, masks and consider slowing down the reopening of society[/caption]The pandemic has now killed more than 3.2 million people with variants emerging in some of the worst affected countries.
This includes India, who has seen more than 230,000 deaths, with that number continuing to grow exponentially by the day.
Now, two nobel prize winning scientist have claimed that, despite the rollout of the “better vaccines,” in the West, it would be “foolish to assume that they will necessary save us.”
In their opinion piece in the NYT, they wrote: “The government (US) is now beginning to stir, but it still appears reluctant to embrace a national strategy.
“We should anticipate the possibility that the virus will spread through Africa, where a vaccination campaign that had barely started is now endangered by the situation in India.
The pair suggested that this would bring disaster in countries where oxygen supplies and hospital beds are extremely limited and urged the likes of The United States and Europe to “get ready and act quickly when necessary.”
They concluded: “Getting ready now might give us a fighting chance to avoid a repeat of India’s nightmare.”
Their comments come as an Indian politician claimed that the country’s second wave is a threat to the world.
Rahul Gandhi issued the dire warning as he called on Prime Minister Modi to begin a second national lockdown as cases and deaths continue to soar to record levels.
Mr Gandhi said India’s huge and diverse population provides “fertile ground” for the virus to mutate into more infectious and deadly forms, causing devastation not just within its borders but across the globe.
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Today, the country logged a record 414,188 new cases, bringing its total to 21,491,598.
On Thursday, researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation warned that the true toll is likely 700,000 and could top 1 million by the end of the month.
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