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Description
The World Health Organization's Chief Scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, talks about the latest science behind the COVID-19 virus. Recorded June 12, 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The City of Cupertino would like to express thanks to the World Health Organization for permission to use their video materials during COVID-19 pandemic. More information can be found at https://who.int/covid-19
For more information regarding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Cupertino, please visit https://cupertino.org/coronavirus
C
Well,
health
organization
headquarters
in
Geneva,
my
name
is
Alexander
Kuzmanovic
from
the
department
of
communications
and
today
on
Facebook,
Twitter
and
LinkedIn,
we'll
be
talking
about
science
and
covin
19.
Therefore,
it's
my
great
pleasure
to
introduce
our
chief
scientist,
dr.
Samir
Swami
Nathan
good
morning
good
morning.
Thank
you
for
having
time
and
taking
time
to
to
talk
to
our
social
media,
viewers
and
audience.
What
is
WH
are
doing
on
science
and
covered
19.
But
first
would
you
like
to
explain
to
our
viewers?
What
is
your
role
as
a
chief
scientist
in
W
Cho
thank.
D
You
and
good
morning,
good
evening
to
all
the
viewers.
As
you
know,
the
science
division
was
created
last
year,
so
the
position
of
chief
scientist
is
a
new
one.
Now
wh
o,
since
its
creation
is
a
science-based
organization,
it
does
normative
work,
which
means
that
we
develop
guidelines
and
standards
related
to
health
for
people
around
the
world
and
therefore
it's
very
important
that
this
we
all
brought
together
within
a
science
division.
D
So
basically,
what
we
do
is,
first
of
all
make
sure
that
there's
quality
assurance
around
all
of
the
the
standard
setting
the
normative
work
of
the
organization,
which
means
that
all
the
products
that
the
different
technical
departments
are
doing
are
done
in
a
standardized
way.
The
way
we
collect
data
the
way
we
review
it,
the
way
we
discuss
with
experts
and
with
a
broader
group
of
people,
including
the
public,
how
do
we
do
consultation
and
then
how
do
we
put
it
together
to
make
those
recommendations?
D
So
there's
has
to
be
a
standard
across
the
organization
that
we
will
enforce,
and
the
second
big
area
is
is
a
sort
of
a
foresight.
Function
is
to
be
able
to
look
ahead
because
science
is
moving
very
rapidly.
There
are
so
many
advances
that
are
in
the
early
stages
in
the
laboratory,
students
in
people's
ideas
and
minds
that
10
years
from
now
will
impact
us
in
a
big
way.
D
So
today,
if
we
see
that
artificial
intelligence
is
impacting
all
aspects
of
our
life
ten
years
ago,
we
should
have
started
thinking
about
this
and
saying
how
do
we
prepare
health
systems
for
what
will
happen
when
artificial
intelligence
becomes
a
reality?
Similarly,
in
genomics
there
are
many
areas
where
there
are
such
rapid
advances
that
there
will
be
diseases
that
can
be
cured
and
so
on.
So
w-h-o
needs
to
be
ahead
of
the
curve,
and
so
that's
the
other
major
function
of
the
science
division,
and
so
it's
it's
a
very
exciting
area
to
be
in.
D
So
what
we
mean
is
that,
when
you're
faced
with
something
completely
new,
this
virus,
we
only
heard
of
in
the
beginning
of
January,
so
it's
a
big
unknown,
a
big
question
mark
you
know:
where
did
it
come
from?
What
does
it
do?
What
effect
does
it
have
on
people's
bodies?
What
is
it
clinically?
How
does
it
spread?
How
can
we
control
it?
What
are
what
drugs
do?
D
We
know
that
work
and,
of
course,
then,
how
do
we
ultimately
control
it
in
the
long
term
say
through
a
vaccine,
so
all
of
these
are
unknowns,
and
that
is
why
we
say
that
science
has
to
bring
the
solutions,
because
you
need
to
gather
the
evidence.
You
need
to
do
the
research
you
need
to
for
everyone
to
work
together
to
come
to
an
agreement
on
on
some
of
these
questions,
and
so
really
and
science
has
moved
so
rapidly
so
much.
D
We
can't
believe
it's
only
less
than
six
months
since
we
heard
about
this
virus,
but
we
know
a
lot
and
it's
mainly
through
the
work
of
thousands
of
of
scientists,
manassas
scientists.
It
also
means
social
scientists,
behavioral
scientists,
scientists,
not
just
the
ones
who
are
in
the
lab,
doing
the
work,
but
really
in
those
that
that
are
in
the
broader
area
of
understanding,
biology
and
and
Natural
Sciences.
Thank.
C
D
The
way
whu-oh
works
in
general
is
through
our
wider
community
of
experts
across
the
world
and,
as
I
said,
these
span
from
basic
scientists
who
work
on
on
genetics
to
to
people
who
do
clinical
work
to
people
who
do
public
health
work
to
people
who
do
work
in
ethics
and
social
sciences.
So
the
way
we
operate
is
through
expert
groups
and
strategic
advisory
committees
and
groups.
D
We
also
have
strict
conflict
of
interest
policies
so
that,
if
you're
a
person
who's
working
in
a
particular
topic
and
you've
been
funded
in
that
area,
you
have
to
declare
that
you
receive
funding
for
that
area
of
work
and
from
whom
have
you
received
funding
and
then
there's
a
committee
that
looks
to
see
if
that
is
fine
for
you
to
come
and
still
be
part
of
this
committee.
And
then
you
declare
your
conflicts
of
interest.
So
we
have
hundreds
of
these
expert
groups
that
advise
us
and
the
Secretariat.
D
There
are
experts
within
whu-oh,
of
course,
in
all
these
technical
areas,
but
they
don't
make
the
final
decisions.
The
decisions
are
made
through
these
expert
committees
who
look
at
all
the
evidence
who
study
it
and
then
who
advise
a
good
example.
I
can
give
you,
as
is
the
sage,
the
strategic,
strategic
advisory
group
on
immunizations,
and
they
actually
are
the
ones
who
make
immunization
policy
for
the
whole
world
and
everyone
all
countries
follow
that
and
and
many
of
the
agencies
like
Gavi
the
vaccine
alliance.
They
base
their
procurement
of
vaccines
on
the
recommendations
of
sage.
C
I
would
just
like
to
use
the
opportunity
to
invite
our
viewers
to
ask
questions
about
science
and
19
on
Facebook
and
LinkedIn.
True
a
comment
section
and
if
you're
watching
us
on
Twitter,
please
use
the
hashtag
ask
wh.
Oh
you
mentioned
immunization
and
in
February,
WTO
gathered
hundreds
of
scientists
around
the
world
to
discuss
a
research
and
development
plan
for
a
vaccine
against
co19.
So
what
was
the
plan
they
agreed
on
so.
D
In
February
we
we
had
something
called
the
research
and
innovation
forum
for
kovat,
and
this
was
again
a
few
weeks
after
we
heard
about
this
virus.
So
what
we
did
was
bring
together
over
400
people
from
around
the
world,
again
scientists,
experts,
clinical
from
all
areas,
but
related
to
research
on
this
virus.
D
So
what
we're
doing
is,
at
the
end
of
this
month
on
June,
29th
and
30th,
we
reconvene
this
probably
more
scientists
now
not
400,
but
maybe
thousand
people
to
discuss
what
have
we
learnt
in
the
last
four
months.
What
are
the
big
knowledge
gaps
that
we
now
have
much
more
information
on?
What
are
the
remaining
big
topics
that
we
need
to
work
towards?
So
we
hope
that
we
take
stock
and
then
we
look
forward
again
to
the
next
six
months
on
what
are
the
priorities
we
need
to
work
on
now,
specifically
on
the
vaccines.
D
I
think
everybody
is
interested
in
knowing
about
vaccines.
What
we
did
at
that
time,
early
January
February
was
ok.
We're
going
to
scientists
are
going
to
be
coming
up
with
vaccine
candidates.
What
is
it
going
to
take?
You
know
for
something
in
a
lab
to
actually
get
to
becoming
an
injection
that
people
can
receive,
and
there
are
many
steps.
Many
many
steps.
It's
not
easy.
You
know
a
vaccine.
Development
normally
takes
10
to
20
years.
D
So
here
we
are
talking
about
developing
a
vaccine
in
12
to
18
months,
but
we
have
to
be
sure
each
step
of
the
way
that
we
establish
that
this
vaccine
actually
works,
which
we
call
it
efficacy,
which
means
that
it
protects
against
infection
and
safety.
These
are
the
two
properties
of
the
vaccine.
It
should
be
safe
in
the
sense
you
do
not
want
a
vaccine
to
cause
more
problems
than
what
it's
supposed
to
protect
against
and
and
so
you
have
to
go
through
these
different
phases
of
testing,
starting
from
the
laboratory
from
cell
cultures.
D
Then
you
go
into
animals,
mice
and
and
some
larger
animals
like
monkeys.
Then
you
go
into
humans
in
a
small
number
of
people,
what
we
call
a
phase
1
trial,
where
about
20
or
30
people
or
50
at
the
most
are
given
this
injection,
sometimes
different
doses
are
tried
and
you
look
at
them
very
carefully
over
the
first
few
weeks
to
see
what
happens
both
in
terms
of
an
immune
response,
because
you
want
a
good
immune
response
to
the
virus,
but
also
in
any
side
effects.
D
Then
you
go
to
a
phase
2,
which
is
usually
several
hundred
people.
Again,
you
are
looking
at
the
immune
response,
you're
looking
at
safety,
you
start
looking
a
little
bit
at
efficacy
and
then
you
do
a
phase
3
trial,
which
is
usually
thousands
and
thousands
of
people
where
you
have
two
groups.
One
group
gets
the
vaccine.
C
Lot
of
our
viewers
are
already
asking,
even
though
you
explain
the
whole
process
that
we
need
to
go
through
to
develop
a
safe
and
effective
vaccine.
They
are
still
asking.
When
can
we
expect
a
vaccine
against
kovat,
and
at
the
moment
we
have
over
200,000
candidate
vaccines
right
200?
So
do
we
do?
We
know
if
any
of
these
is
is
in
advance
process
at
the
moment
of
our
trial?
Yes,.
D
D
Now
you
can
get
immunity
through
natural
infection,
but
we've
seen
now
in
many
countries
where
there's
been
a
lot
of
infection
that
even
at
the
end
of
a
big
outbreak,
you
have
only
five
to
ten
percent
of
the
population
with
antibodies.
So
it's
clear
now
that,
through
natural
infection
is
going
to
take
a
very,
very
long
time
to
get
natural
hard
immunity,
so
we
need
a
vaccine.
D
Now
how
what's
the
soonest
we
can
get
as
I
said
we're
hoping
through
doing
everything
in
parallel,
instead
of
doing
one
step
after
another,
which
is
a
normal
process
of
vaccine
development,
we
try
to
do
overlapping,
you're,
already
planning
the
manufacturing,
while
you're
still
doing
the
clinical
testing.
You
know
you're
overlapping
phase,
one
and
two
phase,
two
and
three,
but
the
minimum
it
takes
about
12
months
12
to
18
months.
D
The
good
thing
is
that
some
group
started
working
in
January
as
soon
as
the
genetic
sequence
of
this
virus
became
public,
and
so
in
March
we
actually
had
the
first
vaccine
candidate
being
tested
in
human
beings.
The
phase
one
test.
Now
there
are
two
vaccines
that
are
currently
in
the
later
stages
of
testing
phase
2
phase
3.
So
we
are
expecting
some
results
by
October
November
December
of
this
of
this
year.
Now
we
cannot
predict
at
this
stage
if
either
of
those
two
vaccines
is
going
to
meet
those
standards
that
I
talked
about.
D
But
if,
if
we're
hopeful
and
optimistic
yes,
we
could
have
the
results
at
the
end
of
the
year,
and
we
could
also
have
some
doses
available
now
how
many
million
doses
are
going
to
be
available?
We
again,
we
cannot
say,
but
the
good
thing
is
that
we
have
another
eight
or
ten
candidates
which
are
getting
into
human
trials
and
again,
which
will
be
in
large-scale
human
trials
by
the
end
of
this
year.
D
So
the
other
thing
that
w-h-o
is
working
on
is
this
developing
a
allocation
framework,
because
we
don't
want
to
be
in
a
situation
where
there
are
some
doses
of
vaccine,
but
that
they're
not
available
to
everyone
that
they're
just
available
to
a
few
people
in
a
few
countries.
So
this
is
where
the
global
solidarity
comes
in
and
our
member
states
are
discussing
you
know
how
do
we
make
a
fair
and
equitable
allocation
so
that,
let's
say
you
have
50
million
roses
to
begin
with,
you
know
who
are
the
people
who
need
it?
D
The
most
it
shouldn't
be
limited
to
by
country,
but
it
should
be.
Is
it
the
most
vulnerable?
The
frontline
workers
that
we
see
are
getting
infected?
Is
it
the
elderly
of
people
above
60
or
65?
We
need
to
have
a
consensus
on
that
so
that
we
agree
to
share
the
virus.
The
vaccine
that's
available.
The
virus
has
been
shared
by
all
around
the
world.
D
C
D
But
then
you
donate
the
technology,
you
donate
the
intellectual
property
so
that
everyone
can
use
it.
Many
companies
can
use
it.
The
other
initiative
that
we
are
very
well
leading-
and
we
are
working
really
hard
on-
is
called
the
act
accelerator.
So
that's
the
it's
act
stands
for
access
to
covert
technologies.
D
Again
accelerator,
it's
basically,
how
do
we
bring
everyone
together-
private
sector,
public
sector,
funders,
multilateral
agencies,
the
UN
and
scientists
to
develop
these
tools,
Diagnostics
drugs
and
vaccines
for
kovat,
and
do
it
in
an
accelerated
timeframe
as
soon
as
possible,
and
it
starts
with
access.
So
it's
not
just
about
the
research
and
the
development,
but
it's
how
do
you
get
access
to
people?
How
do
you
make
sure
that
we
can
deploy
it
in
all
countries,
so
that
accelerator
is
is,
is
really
a
wonderful
way
of
all
partners
coming
together
to
see?
D
D
If
you
bet
on
one
horse
and
that
horse
doesn't
win,
then
you're
left
with
nothing,
but
if
you
are
able
to
pool
your
resources
and
bet
on
six
horses,
one
of
those
six
has
a
much
better
chance
of
winning,
and
this
is
where
I
think
the
public
needs
to
understand.
Politicians
countries
need
to
really
come
together
and
say
how
do
we?
This
is
a
global
problem,
so
it
has
to
be
a
global
solution,
and
in
this
case
a
national
solution
will
not
work
for
very
long.
C
D
Other
countries
have
been
able
to
show
that
by
applying
the
standard
and
well
tested
public
health
measures,
that
they've
actually
been
able
to
cut
the
transmission
down
to
practically
zero
and,
as
I
said,
there
are
other
countries
who
have
shown
this
as
possible.
This
Vietnam
there's
South
Korea
this
Germany
there's
Taiwan.
There
are
countries
and
Riaan
areas
that
have
shown
that
this
is
possible
within
larger
countries.
Also,
some
areas
have
shown
it's
possible,
but
many
places
are
struggling
and
so
I
think
the.
D
D
We
need
to
find
their
contacts
and
quarantine
them
and
the
public
needs
to
follow
the
the
things
that
have
been
shown
to
work,
maintaining
physical
distance
wearing
a
mask
when
you
go
out,
have
it
covering
your
face
and
and
ensuring
that
you're
doing
your
hand-washing
and
respiratory
etiquette,
not
coughing
and
sneezing
in
public
staying
home
if
you're
sick.
If
everyone
followed
all
of
this
I
think
we
could
bring
down
infection
rates
in
many
countries,
but
I
think
in
a
long
term.
C
Here
is
another
question
related
to
vaccine
development,
and
arguer
is
saying
that
my
country
has
started
for
a
clinical
test
phase
one
the
vaccine
is
important
from
another
country.
What
do
you
think
about
that?
Can
it
work?
Because
we
know
the
strain
from
every
country
is
different?
The
mutation
of
kovat
19
is
very
high.
That's.
D
Another
excellent
question:
luckily,
for
us,
the
mutations
that
have
been
observed
and
all
viruses
mutate,
they
change
so
that's
expected,
but
the
mutations
have
not
been
shown
to
be
in
those
regions
of
the
virus.
The
spike
protein,
the
receptor
binding
domain
that
are
going
to
alter
the
efficacy
of
a
vaccine.
So
far,
so
viruses
keep
on
changing
and
we
have
to
keep
an
eye
on
that.
D
D
The
other
advantage
of
that
is
that
we
have
seen
this
epidemic
up
and
down
in
different
parts
of
the
world
right,
so
you
have
a
Europe
wave
that
subsides
and
you
have
the
North
American
wave.
You
have
a
Latin
American
or
South
Asian.
So
if
you
have
trials
happening
in
different
parts
of
the
world,
it's
much
more
likely
that
you
will
have
places
where
there
is
still
active
transmission
of
the
infection
going
on.
So
you
can
answer
the
questions.
D
You
can
finish
the
trials
faster
if
you
are
set
up
in
different
parts
of
the
world,
because
if
you're
doing
it
in
one
country
and
the
infection
is
controlled
like
we
mentioned
New
Zealand,
but
also
China,
for
example,
you
won't
have
enough
infection,
so
the
trial
will
not
be
able
to
be
successful
because
you
can't
compare
the
two
groups
that
we
talked
about
earlier.
So
that's
another
reason
and
I
think
it's
a
very
good
point.
That's
been
brought
up
to
have
these
global
trials.
C
D
C
Question
you
touch
based
on
that
already,
but
maybe
to
to
explain
more.
How
will
the
question
is
coming
from
LinkedIn
and
thank
you?
How
will
the
vaccine
be
tailored
for
the
population
where
a
large
range
of
biological
factors
might
interfere
with
the
effectiveness
of
the
vaccine
between
individuals,
for
example,
different
health
conditions,
age,
different
lifestyles,
environment
exposure.
D
Yes,
excellent
questions,
so
this
is
why
you
need
these
phase
3
trials,
which
are
large,
I,
said
they're.
You
know
usually
in
tens
of
thousands
of
people
so
that
you
get
a
mix
of
of
all
of
these
factors.
You
mentioned
you
know,
age,
sex,
other
diseases,
conditions
age
is
extremely
important
because
old
age
and
young
have
different
immune
responses.
The
elderly
don't
respond
as
well
to
certain
kinds
of
vaccines,
and
you
know
for
this
kovat.
D
We
have
a
range
of
different
vaccine
platforms,
so
there
are
some
which
are
traditionally
been
used
in
many
different
vaccines
like
we
know
that
inactivated
viruses,
where
you
kill
a
whole
virus
and
use
it
as
a
very
old
method
of
of
vaccination.
Then
you
have
a
whole,
but
attenuated
viruses,
they're
still
living,
but
they
have
less
virulence.
Then
you
have
protein.
D
You
just
take
a
part
of
the
viral
protein
and
you
use
that
with
an
adjuvant,
but
now
we
have
new
platforms
which
are
DNA
and
RNA
viruses
which
have
never
been
used
in
people
before
they've
been
developed
for
other
diseases,
but
never
used
on
a
wider
scale.
So
here
there's
a
it's
exciting,
because
you
have
the
advantages
of
some
platforms
which
can
be
manufactured
in
large
amounts
and
use
like
the
RNA
vaccines,
but
on
the
other
hand,
we
don't
know
how
it
will
actually
turn
out
when
we
test.
D
So
so
it's
exactly
to
have
this
kind
of
information
in
different
populations,
different
risk
groups,
different
age
groups,
male-female,
etc
that
we
need
to
do
these
large
phase
3
trials-
and
these
are
it's
a
big
undertaking.
It's
not
it's
not
very
simple,
and
here
again
that's
why
we
need
collaboration.
We
need
countries
to
come
forward
to
take
part
in
trials.
You
need
companies
to
come
forward
and
say
we
offer
our
vaccine
for
testing
in
many
places
and
you
need
well-trained
teams,
and
you
also
need
the
local
communities
to
be
engaged
and
understand.
D
So
it's
all
of
you,
it's
the
communities
that
should
ask
questions
that
should
participate
in
the
decision-making
and
every
country
that
wants
to
do
clinical
trials.
This
is
the
time
to
start
doing
those
preparations
having
those
dialogues
with
people
who
will
eventually
be
the
volunteers
with
the
regulatory
agencies
in
the
countries
with
the
ethics
committees.
With
the
doctors
who
are
going
to
be
leading
these
trials,
so
we
need
all
of
this
to
happen
now
before
we
start
having
these
big
trials
in
the
second
half
of
this
year.
So.
D
That's
again
a
it's
an
excellent
point
and,
as
everyone
knows
right
now
for
the
virus
detection,
you
need
to
take
a
specimen
from
the
respiratory
tract
through
a
through
a
nasopharyngeal,
swab
or,
and
then
you
need
to
take
it
away
to
the
lab
in
a
medium.
And
then
you
extract
the
RNA
of
the
virus,
and
then
you
detect
it
with
me.
It's
a
pretty
sophisticated
lab
environment
and
trained
people
and
machines.
D
D
We
have
this
for
other
diseases,
like
other
respiratory
infections,
even
for
influenza.
There's
a
rapid
test.
You
go
to
the
doctor,
they
take
a
swab,
you
wait!
Half
an
hour
later.
You
have
a
tester
for
streptococcus
sore
throat.
We
have
the
same
thing:
that's
what
we
need
where
scientists
are
working
on
a
rapid
antigen
test
which
could
be
used
on
respiratory
and
if
it
can
be
self
done
by
a
person
at
home.
That
would
be
even
easier
because
then
you
don't
go
into
a
health
center
and
you
know
expose
yourself
or
expose
others.
D
So
that's
one
area
of
work
and
we
don't
have
one
yet,
but
hopefully
we
will
the
other
one
is:
can
we
use
a
saliva
or
can
we
use
an
oral
swab?
You
know
instead
of
putting
the
swab
to
the
back
of
the
throat.
So
again,
people
could
do
it
themselves
and
drop
it
off
at
a
testing
center
and
then
in
the
test
center
itself.
There
are
innovations
like
pooled
testing.
D
If
you
have
a
shortage
of
kids
and
you
want
to
test
more
people
in
the
community,
you
could
pool
five
or
ten
samples
and
then
do
the
PCR
test,
and
if
it's
positive,
then
you
have
to
test
individual
samples.
But
if
it's
negative,
you
know
all
those
ten
people
were
negative,
so
you
have
actually
saved
on
on
many
kits
because
we
know
that
shortage
of
kits
in
many
countries
is
affecting
how
many
tests
they
can
do.
But
so
Diagnostics
is
an
extremely
important
area
of
research.
So.
C
D
Say
that
while
there
is
no
specific
treatment
for
the
virus,
we
know
what
we
have
to
do
to
to
treat
people
and
again
you
see
countries
who've
done
it
well
have
very
low
case
fatality
rates.
So
it's
not.
We
don't
need
to
give
up
that.
We
don't
have
a
treatment.
What
we
need
to
do
is
to
diagnose
people
early,
which
means
again,
you
have
to
do
more
of
case
finding
you
have
to
go
out
in
the
community
and
test
people.
Everyone
has
symptoms.
D
Finding
people
early
and
keeping
them
under
observation
is
a
very
good
way
of
reducing
mortality,
because
then
you
know
how
they
are
progressing
and
if
there's
any
sign
that
their
oxygen
levels
are
dropping
or
that
they
are
becoming
breathless.
You
know
they
need.
Medical
care.
Oxygen
is
extremely
important,
so
all
health
facilities
that
look
after
Kovac
patients
must
ensure
that
there's
oxygen.
There's
a
lot
we've
learnt
about
the
nursing
of
these
people
and
how
to
look
after
them
when
to
use
ventilation
when
not
to
use
ventilation.
D
What
are
the
other
supportive
drugs
that
seem
to
be
helping?
So,
there's
all
this
clinical
management,
which
again
we
are
putting
out
guidelines
on
and
updating
them,
but
then,
of
course,
we
would
like
to
have
a
drug
that
works
specifically
against
this
virus.
Antiviral
drug
discoveries
again
not
a
very
easy
task.
D
D
Interferons
are
also
used
as
stimulants
of
the
immune
system.
They
have
been
used
against
MERS,
another
Karuna
virus.
For
example.
Then
we've
got
rammed
a
severe.
This
is
a
drug,
that's
not
been
widely
used,
it
was
developed
and
tested
for
Ebola
and
it
was
shown
to
have
antiviral
effect
against
our
scurvy.
D
So
these
are
the
four
drugs
that
we
are
testing
within
the
Solidarity
trial
and
other
trials
are
also
using
the
the
same
drugs
and
the
idea
was
again
to
do
it
in
a
large
number
of
patients
around
the
world
and
to
use
this
drug
these
drugs
against
a
standard
of
care,
which
is
your
control
against
which
you
will
compare,
and
currently
we
have
about
4,000
patients
enrolled
in
about
18
countries
in
over
450
hospitals.
So
this
is
a
huge
collaboration
across
the
world.
D
Every
every
continent
is
involved
in
Latin
America
in
in
Africa
and
Asia
in
in
the
Middle
East
in
Europe,
and
so
we
will
have
ultimately
hopefully
good
answers
on
whether
these
work
or
don't
work.
Now,
because
these
are
repurposed
drugs,
they
were
not
specifically
developed
for
this
virus,
there's
a
chance
that
they
may
not
work,
but
it's
worth
testing
them
and
trying
them.
And
meanwhile,
of
course,
scientists
are
coming
up
with
more
possible.
We
are
keeping
an
eye.
D
So
we
keep
on
updating
our
landscape
document
to
see
what's
new
and
the
next
set
of
drugs
which
go
into
solidarity
may
be
monoclonal
antibodies,
it
could
be
other
drugs
that
people
are
finding
are
effective,
so
we've
established
the
platform
now
and
all
of
these
doctors
across
the
world
are
are
excited
and
wanting
to
continue
this
type
of
exercise.
So
once
we
finish
testing
one
lot
of
drugs,
we
can
take
another
set
so.
D
D
Of
course
put
out
a
call
and
we
received
in
fact
over
a
hundred
countries,
we
received
expressions
of
interest.
So
what
we
do
is,
then
we
follow
up
with
the
Ministry
of
Health.
We
have
to
sign
an
agreement
that
we
work
together
and
and
and
the
Ministry
of
Health
must
agree
to
co-sponsor
the
trial.
Then
they
actually
appoint
a
one
leading
doctor
in
the
country
to
be
the
coordinator
and
that
person
that
doctor
then
identifies
the
hospitals
where
Kovac
patients
are
being
admitted.
D
They
have
to
go
through
the
ethics
approval
and
the
regulatory
approval
from
the
country.
Then
we
ship
the
drugs
and
then
they
they
start
enrolling
patients
now
patients,
if
they
volunteer,
want
to
volunteer
first
of
all,
they
have
to,
of
course,
have
the
disease
and
fulfill
the
criteria,
but
then
they
also
have
to
be
admitted
in
one
of
the
hospitals,
that's
participating
in
the
in
the
Solidarity
trial
to
be
eligible,
so
it's
up
to
the
countries
and
and
the
person
that
they
appoint
really
to
to
do
the
local
organization.
D
We
have
telephone
calls
every
week
with
the
the
the
main
principle
investigators
from
all
the
countries
to
update
them
to
hear
from
them,
so
we're
all
the
time
sharing
information
and
also
to
think
about
the
future
of
the
trial.
You
know
if
one
question
has
been
answered,
then
we
should
settle
that
and
move
on
to
answering
the
next
question.
That's
the
most
efficient
way
of
telling
people
this
drug
does
not
seem
to
work.
Let's
move
on
now
to
testing
the
next
drug,
and-
and
so
that's
how
we
do
it.
C
D
Is
a
great
question-
and
you
know
after
the
West
Africa
Ebola
outbreak.
In
fact
this
came
up
because
there
was
nothing.
The
world
had
some
Ebola
candidates,
which
was
sitting
in
scientists
labs,
but
it
had
not
been
developed
to
the
point
where
it
could
quickly
be
deployed
and
we
could
have
saved
adding
many
thousands
of
lives
that
had
been
the
case
so
after
that
in
2016
the
w-h-o
developed.
D
What
we
call
the
R&D
blueprint
to
identify
those
diseases,
those
organisms,
mostly
viruses-
that
can
cause
pandemics-
that
can
cause
large
epidemics
that
need
Diagnostics
vaccines
and
drugs
to
be
developed,
and
these
are
all
neglected
diseases.
So,
once
the
rnd
blueprint
came
up
with
a
list
of
about
nine
pathogens,
viruses
mainly
and
also
something
called
disease
X.
This
was
very
interesting
because,
even
at
that
time
people
had
exactly
this
idea
that
we
could
have
some
unknown
virus
coming
in
and
we
called
it
disease
X
or
pathogen
X.
How
do
you
prepare
for
that?
D
So
there
was
an
organization
launched
called
sepi,
which
is
the
Coalition
for
epidemic
preparedness,
innovations
which
was
basically
set
up
to
exactly
do
this,
develop
vaccines
for
diseases
which
could
cause
epidemics
and
pandemics,
and
they
started
working
on
on
infections
like
Mars,
like
NEPA,
like
the
Lassa
fever,
which
causes
recurrent
outbreaks
in
West
Africa
and
some
other
hemorrhagic
fevers,
also
chikungunya,
which
causes
large
outbreaks.
It
doesn't
kill
that
many
people,
but
it
causes
a
lot
of
morbidity,
and
then
this
pathogen
X
was
the
one
for
which
you
have
to
prepare.
D
And
how
do
you
prepare
you
prepare
vaccine
platforms
on
which
you
can
then
impose
any
antigen.
So
if
you
have
the
platform
ready,
you
have
a
new
virus
as
soon
as
it's
sequenced,
you
can
take
the
parts
of
the
virus,
you
want
and
put
it
on
the
platform
and
quickly
start
making
vaccine
and
that's
exactly
what
happened.
They
were
RNA
and
DNA
platforms
that
were
set
up
so
that,
as
soon
as
the
sequence
of
the
SARS
Co
v2
was
available
on
January
11th.
D
It
was
plugged
in
and
you
had
a
vaccine
candidate
that
some
companies
were
able
to
develop.
So
that's
how
you
prepare
for
the
next
pandemic,
but
you
know,
apart
from
the
vaccines
and
the
Diagnostics,
health
systems,
also
need
to
prepare,
and
this
is
where
again,
we've
fallen.
Short.
We've
seen
that
in
country
after
country
after
country
that
the
public
health
system
could
not
cope
that
we
could
not
track.
We
did
not
know
where
the
virus
was
how's
it
spreading.
D
We
didn't
have
the
mechanism
to
do
contact
tracing,
to
be
able
to
quarantine
people
and
so
on.
So
there's
also
that
aspect
that
you
need
to
develop
a
public
health
system
and
workforce
and
a
and
a
platform
and
a
governance
mechanism
and
trained
people
in
place
to
respond
quickly,
so
there's
the
technology
side
and
the
innovation,
but
there's
also
the
very
basic
preparations.
That
is
what
we
call
boots
on
the
ground.
You
need
people
on
the
ground
to
do
some
of
this
work.
Thank.
C
D
So
huge
activity
in
vaccine
development,
at
least
100
candidates.
You
know
that
are
an
advanced
preclinical.
You
know
200
if
you
take
the
whole
list
about
in
10
or
11
in
human
clinical
testing,
so
within
the
next
6
to
12
months,
we're
going
to
start
seeing
results
from
some
of
the
trials.
So
that's
the
first
step.
We
start
seeing
results.
We
come
get
to
know
whether
a
vaccine
is
actually
effective
and
safe.
D
The
manufacturing
there's
investment
right
now,
going
into
manufacturing
capacity,
spread
out
or
in
all
over
the
world
so
that
as
soon
as
or
even
before,
you
know
whether
vaccine
is
effective,
there's
already
production
of
that
vaccine
happening
so
that
it
can
be
very
quickly
sent
out
to
countries
and
then
a
very
important
area
which
again
we
are
addressing,
is
getting
countries
ready
to
do
this,
so
countries
need
to
start
planning?
Ok,
if
I
have
a
10
million
doses
or
20
million
doses
coming
in
by
December
Who
am
I
going
to
vaccinate.
D
How
am
I
going
to
do
that?
How
am
I
going
to
communicate
this
to
people
and
be
ready,
because
you
know
to
vaccinate
people
you
need
also
needles
syringes.
You
need
cold
chains,
you
need
all
sorts
of
other
things
to
be
put
in
place.
It's
not
just
a
question
of
the
vaccine
arriving
and
then
you'll
be
able
to
give
it.
So
we
may
run
into
shortages
of
all
of
those
we're
also
looking
into
glass
vials
in
Tunis
and
syringes,
making
sure
that
those
are
also
being
manufactured
in
enough
enough
volumes.
D
So
I
think
this
is
going
to
be
a
very
hot
topic
for
for
many
months
to
come,
and
perhaps
we
should
touch
base
frequently.
You
know
with
our
viewers
and
and
maybe
even
go
into
more
details
into
which
vaccines
are
being
tested
and
the
results
that
are
coming
out
and
and
what
does
it
mean,
because
one
thing
I
just
want
to
say
in
closing
Alex
is
I.
Think
for
the
first
time
we've
had
this
huge
public
interest
and
focus
on
what's
happening
in
the
science.
D
Normally,
you
know,
science
goes
on
quietly
behind
the
scenes
and
the
public
gets
to
know
when
there's
a
result.
When
something
happens
you
get
to
hear
of
it,
but
here
every
step,
every
step,
and
so
sometimes
that
can
also
get
confusing,
because
in
science
you
do
studies
to
prove
things
and
then
one
study
shows
something,
and
you
say:
ok,
you
found
this.
Another
study
then
shows
something
slightly
different
or
brings
up
a
new
aspect
of
that.
Then
you
have
to
change,
and
so
change
is
part
of
science.
D
It
doesn't
mean
that
what
you
said
three
months
ago
was
wrong
and
that
and
that
you
said
something
wrong.
It
was
the
state
of
knowledge
at
that
time,
and
the
state
of
knowledge
is
evolving
so
rapidly
that
very
frankly,
Alex
it's
hard
to
keep
up.
It's
really
hard
to
keep
up.
You
know
we
how
many
publications
a
day
on
ANCOVA
just
guess
it's
an
average
of
500
publications
a
day
and
so
for
someone
to
be
able
to
read
and
understand
and
also
differentiate,
there's
low
quality
stuff
coming
out
as
well
as
high
quality
science.
D
You
have
to
be
able
to
tell
the
difference,
so
we
have
a
whole
army
of
people
here,
working
in
the
science
division
on
screening.
All
of
that
which
is
coming
out
taking
out
the
key
ones
then
synthesizing
it,
and
then
you
know
forming
an
opinion
and
so
I
hope
that
people
will
understand
that
as
science
evolves,
we
keep
on
trying
to
be
up-to-date
and
change
our
guidance
and
so
on,
but
sometimes
it's
difficult
because
either
there
is
no
clear
consensus.
D
C
You
Soumya
and
thank
you
for
clarifying
this
as
well,
that
science
is
evolving
and
we
are
learning
everyday
and
learned
a
lot
in
past
months
and
working
with
scientists
around
the
world
to
to
create
and
update
our
guidance
and
bringing
to
guidance.
Recently
we
updated
our
guidance
on
mass
and
viewers
are
asking:
why
are
we
not
wearing
math?
So
could
you
maybe
respond
to
that?
Yes,.
D
So
we
have
to
be
careful.
We
are
also
watching
our
hands
and
and
sterilizing
using
this,
in
fact,
using
the
alcohol-based
skin
disinfectants.
Quite
often,
we
have
very
few
people
coming
in
and
every
morning
we
each
fill
out
a
form
to
say
whether
we
are
feeling
fine
or
whether
we
have
any
symptoms,
which
means
that
we
must
stay
at
home,
and
so
we
follow
all
of
that
and
when
we
go
out
into
a
crowded
place
where
we
cannot
maintain
physical
distance.
Like
you
go
into
a
grocery
store,
then
we
were.
We
wear
masks.
C
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
time
and
for
responding
questions
to
our
viewers.
I
also
would
like
to
remind
you
that
three
times
the
week
Monday
one
then
Friday
5
p.m.
Geneva
time
our
director
general
and
our
experts,
including
dr.
Sonia,
are
there
responding
journalists
questions,
so
you
can
follow
and
watch
for
updates.
Also
on
on
our
work
on
on
science
as
well,
you
can
follow
our
social
media
channels
where
we
also
provide
updates,
regularly
or
visit
our
website.