Dr Soumya Swaminathan News

"There are over 300 subvariants of Omicron. I think the one that is concerning right now is XBB, which is a recombinant virus. We had seen some recombinant viruses earlier. It is very immune-evasive, which means it can overcome the antibodies. So slightly that we may see another wave of infections in some countries because of XBB," WHO said.

Vaccines are still proving to be effective because even though the numbers are going up exponentially in many countries, said WHO Chief Scientist. Even within hospitalised people the need for ventilation, the need for critical care that does not seem to be going up proportionately, said Swaminathan.

WHO chief scientist has said that India may be entering some kind of endemic stage of COVID-19 Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that by the end of 2022, things would get back to normal

WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that the data from the phase 3 trial of Bharat Biotech’s vaccine Covaxin looks good. Dr Soumya Swaminathan said, “We keep a close eye on all vaccines which have received emergency use listing. We continue to seek more data."

World Health Organisation has warned against the use of Ivermectin drug Goa's Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had recommended the drug to all above 18 years of age The WHO had, in March, issued a similar warning against the use of ivermectin in treating Covid patients

Soumya Swaminathan said studies were underway in India to examine the variant's transmissibility, the severity of the disease it causes The WHO scientist called for more genome sequencing in India to get a full picture of what is going on in different parts of the country

There is no new mutant strain of dengue which is affecting people of Delhi and if citizens do their bit then the epidemic can come under control very soon, says newly-appointed Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Soumya Swaminathan.

India stares at a huge epidemic of obesity, a new study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) finds.