Indian vaccines can fight UK and Brazil variants: ICMR

Dr Balram Bhargava, director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is of the opinion that the two Covid19 vaccines in India (Covishield and Covaxin), can fight the UK and Brazil variants of the disease.

New Delhi: The two Covid19 vaccines in India can fight the UK and Brazil variants of the disease, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director-general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"Our scientific research has found that the two vaccines can work against UK and Brazil variants of Covid19 disease. A study is on to find out the effectiveness of the vaccines against South African variant," said Dr Bhargava.

The statement given by Dr Bhargava assumes significance following the fact that the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) has detected 771 variants of concerns (VOC) in a total of 10787 positive samples tested by states and UTs.

These include 736 samples positive of viruses of the UK (B.1.1.7) lineage, 34 positive of South African (B.1.351) lineage and one positive of Brazil (P.1) lineage.

Against the backdrop of a spike of Covid19 cases in India in the recent days, Dr Surjeet Kumar Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that there was no connection found between the recent spike of cases with the three variants that have been detected in India.

"The spike is due to non-adherence of the Covid appropriate behaviour as well as not using mask and mass gatherings," said Singh.

Echoing the same view, Dr VK Paul, Director, Niti Aayog said that 70 per cent of our population is still susceptible to Covid19.

"The spike is happening in such places which witnessed fewer cases earlier. As many of our population are still susceptible, we should follow Covid appropriate behaviour to contain the spike," said Paul.

The analysis of samples from Maharastra, however, has revealed that compared to December 2020, there has been an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q and L452R mutations.

A statement from the health ministry said that these mutations have been found in about 15-20 per cent of samples and do not match any previously catalogued VOCs.

"These have been categorised as VOCs but require the same epidemiological and public health response of increased testing, comprehensive tracking of close contacts, prompt isolation of positive cases and contacts as well as treatment as per National Treatment Protocol by the states and UTs," the ministry said.

The ministry further said that from Kerala 2032 samples (from 14 districts) have been sequenced.

"The N440K variant that is associated with immune escape has been found in 123 samples from 11 districts. This variant was earlier found in 33 per cent of samples from Andhra Pradesh, and in 53 of 104 samples from Telangana. These variants have been reported from 16 other countries including the UK, Denmark, Singapore l, Japan and Australia. All these variants are under investigation," the health ministry said.

It further said that through VOCs and double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish or direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states.

He said that 206 cases of the double mutant variant have been found in Maharastra and 9 in Delhi.

"So far, no linkage has been seen with the surge in Covid19 cases due to foreign travellers," said NCDC director Singh.

Singh said that Punjab, Telangana, Delhi and Maharastra witnessed the maximum number of variants with 336, 104, 68 and 63 respectively.

He said that apart from RT PCR tests being currently carried out in airports, 5 per cent of community samples are being investigated to detect the prevalence of different variants.

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