Soumya Swaminathan

Be prepared for fresh COVID-19 waves, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has warned, amid the onset of new variants that are more transmissible, immune evasive and growing concerns about greater hospitalisations. There is mounting evidence that suggests that Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are infecting people who have been vaccinated. We need to be prepared for these #COVID19 waves -- each new #variant will be more transmissible & immune evasive -- higher numbers infected will translate into greater hospitalisations & sickness. All countries must have a data driven plan to quickly respond to changing situations, Swaminathan tweeted on Thursday. She was tweeting in response to a Twitter thread by Senior Advisor at World Bank Group Philip Schellekens who said that we are seeing a global U-turn in COVID-19 mortality. Following months of decline, it has started to rise again, which did not come as a big surprise given properties of BA.5, relaxed attitudes towards infection

She also said the WHO is working on scenarios where variant-proof vaccines are developed and suggested that there is a need for a distributed manufacturing network across the globe

Though the scientific achievement with regards to tackling the Covid-19 pandemic is commendable, there was no global coordination on some of the issue, Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of WHO said

WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said India is one of the largest contributors of the global solidarity trial for Covid vaccines

Delta variant becoming globally dominant, says Swaminathan

As India is in the grasp of a devastating second wave of Covid-19, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan termed the rate of infections and deaths in country as "worrying"

The 58-year-old Swaminathan is a paediatrician and a clinical scientist, known for her research on tuberculosis