WHO backtracks on immunity
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Arapiles
This is the actual WHO report:
"Immunity passports" in the context of COVID-19
“Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an “immunity passport” or “risk-free certificate” that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection. There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.
“Most of these studies show that people who have recovered from infection have antibodies to the virus. However, some of these people have very low levels of neutralizing antibodies in their blood,4 suggesting that cellular immunity may also be critical for recovery. As of 24 April 2020, no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans.”
The issue WHO appears to be concerned about is that some people who recovered had low levels of antibodies - that’s old news, and the explanation for it hasn’t been settled. WHO is then saying that all people with antibodies may not be immune - but there’s no evidence of that either way - it hasn’t been shown in the case of the people with low antibodies and it’s not been shown in the case of people with strong antibodies.
It’s an incredible stretch to then say, from that, that vaccines won’t work, which is what I’ve seen in other news reports.
So, not just me that found what WHO was saying a bit odd:
UK COVID-19 Daily: WHO Immunity Clarification
WHO Immunity Clarification
The World Health Organisation issued a clarification ..... It took down the old tweet and instead said:
"Earlier today we tweeted about a new WHO scientific brief on 'immunity passports'. The thread caused some concern & we would like to clarify: We expect that most people who are infected with #COVID19 will develop an antibody response that will provide some level of protection.”
"Prof Babak Javid, principal investigator, Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Beijing, and consultant in infectious diseases at Cambridge University Hospitals, said: "The initial WHO statement was very confusing and highlights how technically precise language such as ‘no evidence to support’ can have very different meanings to scientists and the general public. In the clarification, the WHO acknowledges that although it is true that we just don't know whether natural infection provides long-lasting immunity, or to what degree of protection (ie. 'no evidence'), this does NOT mean they do not expect some degree of immunity to be afforded by natural infection, quite the opposite.""
