The second wave of the COVID-19 virus had posed a severe threat to the Indian population. Now that the mass-scale vaccination drives and inter-state lockdowns have somewhat put a check on the imminent risks of community transmission, the country has once again reported an occurrence of the virus having mutated into the ‘Delta Plus’ or AY.1 variant.
Many facilities have already branded the Delta Plus variant as a mutation related to escaping immunity. However, the researchers see no need for immediate concern. This opinion of the Delta Plus variant has been supported by the rarity in its occurrence. Dr. VK Paul, of the Health Department of NITI Aayog, remarked, “Its presence had been detected and submitted to global data system”, though it does not cause significant concern as of now.
Support Independent Journalism? Keep us live.
The second wave of the COVID-19 that ravaged the entire nation in the first half of 2021 had been labelled as the B.1.617.2 strain. The Delta Plus is a mutated form of the same strain, and was first documented in March 2021, as informed by government officials. Anurag Agrawal, director of the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi, vouched against the severity of the AY.1 variant. He discussed further research on this AY.1 variant. Testing the blood plasma nature of fully-vaccinated individuals for significant levels of immunity escape could be key to understand the nature and prevention of the Delta Plus variant.
The Delta Plus variant is resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail, which blocks the virus’ entry and attachment to the human body. Presently, the Institutes across the nation are studying the effects of Covaxin and Covishield, the two authorised vaccines for mass vaccination in the Indian subcontinent, on the mutated strain. Researchers at AIIMS reported that Covishield (from AstraZeneca) after both doses can provide protection as high as 79% among the vaccinated.
So far, the mutated AY.1 variant has been reported in countries like Canada, Germany, Russia, Nepal, Japan, Poland, the US and Switzerland. Efforts are on to trace the variant in India. Though the mutated strain has not raised any immediate concern, it is still advised to take the necessary precautions against COVID-19, including wearing masks, frequent sanitization and social distancing.
Comments are closed.