Vaccines can offer protection but masking and avoiding large crowds are still essential to keeping COVID-19 away.
![People dressed in Santa Claus costumes cross the finish line during a morning run in Madrid, on December 19, 2021 [AP/Paul White]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/AP21353404841803.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Vaccines can offer protection but masking and avoiding large crowds are still essential to keeping COVID-19 away.
WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan on the latest work being done to help protect against the novel coronavirus.