A senior virus expert at Columbia University warned that the novel coronavirus will not disappear and our lives may never return to normal.
Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunology Research at Columbia University’s Melman School of Public Health, told reporters that the public is likely to “live the rest of their lives with the virus”.
Lipkin pointed out that vaccination will have to be taken for generations to come and that additional fortified shots will still need to be received after vaccination. “This problem will happen repeatedly and I don’t think life will return to normal completely,” he said.
It is reported that Lipkin has been working in the field of microorganisms, pathogens and epidemic response for decades. Despite his pessimism about returning to the pre-pandemic lifestyle, Lipkin also said that the scientific breakthroughs of Modena and Pfizer and German biotechnology companies are “shocking”, believing that the companies’ vaccines are expected to reduce the level of virus transmission.
But Lipkin also put forward some important warnings, specifically how to transport and distribute vaccines to the world, especially to many countries that are not rich as the United States.
He said: “We can distribute these vaccines to most parts of Europe and the United States, but how to deliver them to developing countries will be a daunting challenge. We need to put vaccines in those places that don’t need to be refrigerated.”
The only way to return to normal life is to make 60 to 80 percent of the global population immune, the virus expert said.
He also called on the United States and the European Union to strengthen policy coherence in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic and compare European and American practices with China.
The “virus hunter” said: “In China, if the government decides what measures to take, it can implement the measures. Unlike Spain or the United States, foot bans and lockdowns will cause controversy in Spain and the United States.
And all (Chinese) people obey the rules. In the field of public health, policy coherence is obviously important.
