WHO's chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, on Thursday said that though Covid-19 vaccines may not be able to provide absolute protection against different variants of the virus, but it can certainly reduce risks of death and complications. She further emphasised that people needs to to be on guard in the months to come as well, news agency PTI reported.
"Even though the vaccine may not be able to provide absolute protection against different variants of virus, it can certainly reduce the risk of death and complications," Dr. Swaminathan said in a statement as reported by PTI.
In a country as diverse and heterogeneous as India, with multiple beliefs and faiths, it could not have been easy to embark on such a massive vaccination drive, she further said.
"What is important to note is that India under prime minister Narendra Modi showed a remarkable capacity to rise to the occasion and despite the constraints of resources, within one year, we are in a position to dispense more than one vaccine and other countries of the world are also looking up to us," her statement said.
WHO's chief scientist on Thursday called on Union Minister Jitendra Singh to discussed various aspects of the current COVID-19 pandemic as well as a wide range of other issues.
Mandaviya meets Swaminathan over Covaxin approval
Earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met Dr. Swaminathan to discuss WHO's approval for Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin.
All documents required for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) have been submitted by Bharat Biotech for COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to the World Health Organization (WHO) as of July 9 and the review process by the global health body has commenced, the Rajya Sabha was told last month.
(With inputs from agencies)
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