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The BMJ Interview: WHO chief scientist optimistic for a pan-coronavirus vaccine in two years

BMJ 2022; 377 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o1003 (Published 26 April 2022) Cite this as: BMJ 2022;377:o1003
  1. Mun-Keat Looi
  1. The BMJ

Soumya Swaminathan tells Mun-Keat Looi of her worries about the relaxation of testing for global surveillance and the “two track pandemic”

It’s a challenging time to be a scientist, let alone the first ever chief scientist at the World Health Organization, a relatively new role. Barely nine months into her tenure Soumya Swaminathan was faced with a once in a century global health emergency and an entirely new virus that would change the face of science and medicine dramatically.

“It is incredible what we’ve learnt about this virus in just over two years,” she tells The BMJ, “we haven’t learnt as much about some other pathogens in decades of research.”

She speaks with awe at the speed at which diagnostics, vaccines, and drugs have been developed and is optimistic that a pan-coronavirus vaccine could arrive much sooner than many might expect. She expresses her admiration for large platform clinical trials, including WHO’s own Solidarity and the UK’s Recovery trial.1 “They’ve provided such valuable information about how to treat patients. That really brought mortality down significantly.”

But there are plenty of scientific gaps remaining and Swaminathan has choice words about the “two track pandemic”—the way governments have adapted to the changing scientific evidence and the relaxation of testing as deaths have plummeted.

“We’re concerned that many countries have reduced testing and therefore we’re not getting a good handle on the stage of the pandemic. This is important because we need to be able to be vigilant and pick up a new variant as soon as it emerges and take appropriate action.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Biography

Born in Chennai, Soumya Swaminathan earnt her medical degree at the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune and her doctorate in paediatrics from All India Institute of Medical Sciences …

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