peter.christopher @guardian.co.tt Even with the emergence of vaccines, the public should not expect to step away from mask-wearing and other COVID precautions in the near future. Jamaican doctor and professor, Peter Figueroa, warned the COVID-19 vaccines despite early results being encouraging still had far too many unknown quantities with regard to its overall effectiveness. “The vaccines are not a silver bullet, we still need the non-pharmaceutical measures, the mask and the hand hygiene, the physical distancing and avoiding crowds, especially indoors,” said Figueroa while addressing the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s Forum on COVID-19 Vaccination yesterday.