Vaccine will work against the new variants: Central Government

There is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against Covid-19 variants reported from the UK or South Africa, said Dr Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific adviser to the Government of India. The changes in the variants are not sufficient to make the vaccines ineffective, he added.

New Delhi:The Central government on Tuesday reiterated that the Covid19 vaccines in India will work against the new SARS-CoV-2 variant that has been detected in the UK.

Outlining concerns about the new Covid-19 variants detected in the UK and South Africa, principal scientific adviser to the Government of India Dr Vijay Raghavan said, "There is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against Covid-19 variants reported from the UK or South Africa."

He said that most vaccines target spike protein, in which there are changes in the variants. But vaccine stimulates our immune system to produce a wide range of protective antibodies, he added. "The changes in the variants are not sufficient to make the vaccines ineffective," said Dr Raghavan.

Giving details of the new variants, Dr Raghavan said that 8 of the 17 important changes are in the part which codes for the spike protein. "One change, N501Y increase affinity for the ACE2 receptor, used for vital entry into human cells. N501Y has been linked earlier to increased infectivity and transmission in animal models," said Dr Raghavan while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

South Africa states the N501Y mutation with the UK variants, in addition to other distinct changes. In fact, the UK has witnessed a sudden spike in positivity rate ever since the new variant has been detected. "The UK variant is more transmissible," said Dr Raghavan.

Asserting that the new variants is a matter of concern and people need to take extraordinary precautions, Dr Raghavan said that Covid19 vaccines in India will come out soon. "At the same time, we are doing testing and sequencing of samples from international travellers from across the country. We are also testing and sequencing of samples from those being admitted to hospitals," Dr Raghavan said.

Dr Balram Bhargava, director-general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that well-established therapy for Covid19 treatment should be used. "Because of immune pressure on the virus, the mutation occurs. So we need to use well-established therapy for Covid19 treatment. At the same time we need to monitor immunity breakthrough that occurs following vaccination," said Dr Bhargava.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhusan who was also present in the meeting said that central government has shared the list of air passengers coming to India since December 21 to December 31 with states and UTs for proper monitoring and testing. "Apart from incoming international passengers going through RT PCR tests at the airports, we will also send a sample of 5 per cent of the general population for genome sequencing," said Bhushan while highlighting the steps taken by the central government to contain the spread of mutation in India.

When asked about the criteria for people above 50 for getting the vaccine dose, Bhushan said that a team of experts are examining the issue and once they submit their report, a final call will be taken. Talking on the Covid-19 status in India, Bhushan said that the country is doing well in comparison to other affected countries.

"Active cases has come down to less than 2.7 lakh after six months and declining. Cumulative positivity rate is also merely 6.01 per cent," said Bhushan. He said that India has recorded daily new cases less than 17,000 after 6 months. "Daily deaths is also less than 300 after 6 months," he said.

The health secretary further said that the number of active and death cases are higher among male patients in comparison to females. 63 per cent male carries the disease in comparison to 37 per cent of the female.

"The mortality rate due to Covid-19 amongst male patients is 70 per cent whereas female mortality rate is 30 per cent," said Bhushan and added that "11 per cent of deaths happened to the people between 18 to 44 years of age and 55 per cent active cases remain with the people between the same age group."

Bhushan further informed that 5 states and UTs account for 60 per cent of total active cases in the country. Kerala is leading the list of such states with 24 per cent, followed by Maharastra 22 per cent, West Bengal 5 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 5 per cent, Chhattisgarh 5 per cent and rest of the country accounts 39 per cent of active cases.