Over the past few months, Indian has been seeing new Covid infections and fatalities in big numbers. Several experts are of the opinion that the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19, dubbed as the Indian variant is behind the surge in cases in the country.
Adding strength to the popular belief, the global health agency World Health Organization(WHO) said, the Indian variant, which is also called the triple-mutant Covid variant is a global concern now.
WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove said the preliminary studies have found that compared to the original virus strain, the Indian variant spreads quickly and the strain is somehow capable of beating the protection offered by the vaccine doses. The vaccine doses are still effective, the expert said.
She called the Indian variant a global concern while addressing a press conference. Saying that the variant has more transmissibility than the other variants, the expert said, more information is needed to under the virus lineage. To get more and more information on the lineage, targeted sequencing is required, she opined.
To get a better understanding of the Covid-19 virus and the way it is changing its forms, the global agency has been following not less than 10 variants of the Coronavirus and the Indian variant is one of them.
During the press conference, the expert batted for following the required Covid-19 preventive measures like wearing masks, following distance with others, and maintaining personal hygiene.
So far, the WHO has termed three variants as variants of concerns, the B.1.1.7 variant, which was found in the United Kingdom, the B.1.351 that was detected in South Africa, and the P.1 variant of Brazil.
The WHO even stated that the B.1.617 has as many as three sublineages and more details on the virus strain and its sublineages will be stated in the report which will be out on Tuesday.
