In light of the continuous decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Lebanon, the arrival of more vaccines, as well as the increasing number of vaccinated people, the questions that keeps repeating itself is whether Lebanon still needs to strictly adhere to preventive measures, such as social distancing and wearing masks.

Despite the fact that fully vaccinated people in the US have been informed that it was no longer compulsory to wear a face mask in public, bacterial diseases specialist and head of the National Committee for the Administration of the Coronavirus Vaccine, Abdel-Rahman Bizri, told the NNA this did not apply to Lebanon. To the contrary, he highly recommended continuing to wear face masks and adhering to social distancing measures.

“US and European scientific bodies, including the American Society for Bacterial Diseases, have refused the recommendation that allows vaccinated people to remove their face masks,” he added.

“We cannot implement this recommendation or decision in Lebanon, especially at this stage,” Bizri said, adding that vaccinated people in Lebanon are still obliged to wear their face masks and practice social distancing measures.

He went on to stress the need to keep sticking to preventive measures pending the achievement of greater herd immunity. “Lebanon is currently in a critical stage, where the epidemiological signs and indicators are positive; this urges us to continue practicing preventive measures in line with an increasing rate of vaccination,” he added.

Bizri then explained that Lebanon has moved from the fourth to the third stage stage of the pandemic, which is less dangerous. “If we continue on this track, epidemiological indicators say that we will reach the second stage within a few weeks. This matter helps reduce restrictions in Lebanon and facilitates the travel movement of Lebanese abroad, provided that we remain careful and committed to preventive measures,” he added.

“The proportion of those vaccinated in Lebanon has reached 10%, and within a week or two the frequency of vaccination will increase dramatically with the arrival of large quantities of the Pfizer vaccine,” Bizri added, hoping to raise the rate of immunization in June and July to 30%.