Professor Cyrille Cohen talks herd immunity and his pandemic regrets
Freddie Sayers | UNHERD
Professor Cyrille Cohen is head of Immunology at Bar Ilan University and a member of the advisory committee for vaccines for the Israeli Government.
In a wide-ranging and forthright interview, the Professor tells Freddie Sayers:
• The Green Pass / vaccine passport concept is no longer relevant in the Omicron era and should be phased out (he expects it to be in short order in Israel)
• He and his colleagues were surprised and disappointed that the vaccines did not prevent transmission, as they had originally hoped
• The biggest mistake of the pandemic in Israel was closing schools and education
• Widespread infection is now an inevitable part of future immunity — otherwise known as herd immunity
• Omicron has accelerated the pandemic into the endemic phase, in which Covid will be “like flu”
KEY QUOTES
"Especially with Omicron, where we don’t see virtually any difference, there is a very narrow gap between people vaccinated and non-vaccinated, both can get infected with a virus, more or less at the same pace."
- CYRILLE COHEN, UNHERDTV
On the behavioural science behind the Green Pass:
"You have also to understand that the Green Pass is not necessarily — and that’s not a secret — it’s not necessarily to prevent transmission. It’s also to encourage people to get vaccinated. And I don’t want to touch upon the political aspects of the green pass. But this is a reality."
- CYRILLE COHEN, UNHERDTV
On the risks and rewards of herd immunity:
"Herd immunity is a consequence for me. It’s not an objective, it’s not a goal. There is a thin nuance here, if I may say, that people have to grasp. I’m not saying to people go and get infected, I don’t think that this is a model that we need to adopt."
- CYRILLE COHEN, UNHERDTV
On Israeli school closures:
"There is one mistake, I think that we made, and that I’m extremely sorry for that. We have made a few mistakes, but it was education. For me education was the thing we shouldn’t have touched. Never, never."
- CYRILLE COHEN, UNHERDTV
READ MORE:
Israeli officials were ‘surprised and disappointed’ vaccines did not stop transmission
Analysis | Three Lockdowns, but Still Many COVID Deaths: How Israel Failed to Manage the Pandemic
RELATED:
Serious cases at all-time high in Israel -- even with 'vaccines'
No comments:
Post a Comment