MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russian coronavirus vaccines remain effective against a new variant of the Omicron strain XBB.1.5, dubbed Kraken, the lead infectious diseases specialist of the Russian Health Ministry, Vladimir Chulanov, reported on Thursday.

"Studies have shown that all the vaccines that we have continue to be effective in terms of reducing the risk of a severe course of the disease," he said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast.

In this regard, Chulanov called on people to revaccinate against COVID-19 every six months. He also emphasized that Russian vaccines were safe and could do no harm.

Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) earlier reported the new Omicron subvariant, dubbed Kraken, has been recorded in the country for the first time in the Penza Region. The sanitary watchdog stressed that there were no plans to impose restrictions. Chulanov noted that according to the available information, the Kraken subvariant did not entail a severe course of the disease.