All news

COVID vaccination proven effective, prevents emergence of new strains, says WHO envoy

The official explained that the fewer new infections there are, the less likely it is that the virus will mutate
WHO envoy to Russia Melita Vujnovic Mikhail Pochuyev/TASS
WHO envoy to Russia Melita Vujnovic
© Mikhail Pochuyev/TASS

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The vaccination campaign against the coronavirus infection has demonstrated its effectiveness and prevents the emergence of new strains of COVID-19, World Health Organization (WHO) envoy to Russia Melita Vujnovic told TASS on Tuesday.

"We are currently obtaining more and more evidence that the vaccination [campaign] is useful for people and helps prevent the spread of the infection. The mass transmission of the virus, that is a large number of infected people, poses the greatest risk of a virus mutation and the escape of new strains from vaccine protection," she said. "While scientists all over the world are tracking the emergence of new virus variants and are checking the efficacy of existing vaccines, they also stand ready to adapt the shots to the changing virus."

Vujnovic explained that the fewer new infections there are, the less likely it is that the virus will mutate. "When there are few or no new infections, there are no new virus strains," she pointed out.

The WHO envoy underscored that the combination of the inoculation campaigns with measures of public health such as masks, hand hygiene and avoiding crowds in closed spaces will help defeat the virus. "We need to create a barrier to the virus spread with the help of vaccination immunity, which is possible," she concluded.