Press release: ABVC Vets right behind experts in the fight against COVID-19
Our vets support government measures to combat the coronavirus. Given the situation, the scientifically substantiated policy to build up group immunity in a dosed manner, combined with protecting the elderly and the vulnerable, seems the best scenario.
In an epidemic caused by a virus, you would prefer to vaccinate people to protect them, reduce the virus and build group immunity. Many diseases are effectively controlled in humans and animals through vaccination. Think of smallpox, measles, and rabies. As long as no vaccine against COVID-19 is available, it seems difficult for doctors to completely eradicate this virus with other control measures. They base this on knowledge and experience with the control of various animal diseases, with and without the use of vaccination.
Awaiting a vaccine, building group immunity as cautiously as possible is probably the best scenario. If enough people have gone through and been cured of the disease, the resulting immunity within the population may offer protection against new outbreaks of COVID-19. To prevent this from happening in an uncontrolled manner, the measures taken seem useful and proportional. A total “lockdown”, on the other hand, would significantly delay the building of group immunity, regardless of the major social consequences. With the ultimate release of social traffic, the virus would then have free reign and could again cause feared outbreaks.
There are many opinions about fighting the coronavirus. These do not serve humans and animals at the moment. The government’s policy is based on the insights of scientific experts and experts in the fields of virology and infectious disease control, including veterinarians. The current package of measures is mainly aimed at slowing down the spread so that care is not overloaded. Unfortunately, this cannot prevent people from becoming ill and sometimes dying.
Veterinarians will have to express and live up to this policy in the near future while continuing to fulfill their duty of care for animals as best they can. Veterinarians understand the importance of conducting thorough research into the transmission of the virus and the development of group immunity among the population. As a professional group, there is also a great deal of respect for colleagues in human health care in the struggle for the elderly, the sick and the vulnerable. These measures are of the utmost importance to them in particular.
We trust you all agree with the measures put in place and will live up to keeping a safe distance from each other, and the stepped-up actions put in place to minimize the speed and continuous spread of the virus within our population.
A big thank you to all the health care suppliers worldwide and especially in the UAE for their tireless commitment to keeping everyone safe.
Mehdi Mzabi & Ellen Kruijning
