India has so far reported nearly 50 cases of Delta plus SARS-CoV-2 variant, with Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu leading with the maximum number of cases, the Union Health Ministry said at a press conference on Friday.
Sujeet Kumar Singh, director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said in India, COVID-19 ‘variants of concerns’ were found to be distributed in 174 districts in 35 States. The highest numbers were reported from districts in Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat.
“Variants of Concerns with public health importance detected in community samples in India include -- Alpha [3,969], Beta [149], Gamma [1] and B.1.617, Delta and Kappa were detected in 16,238 samples,’’ he stated.
The proportion of cases with ‘variants of concerns’ had risen from 10.31% in May 2021 to 51% on 20th June 2021.
Renu Swarup, secretary, Department of Biotechnology, said that in the last couple of months, the first variant of concern was the one announced by the U.K., where it was identified. “Subsequently, we now have four of these, which the World Health Organisation has called Alpha, Beta, Gamma & Delta. “Delta is the one that was identified in India,’’ she noted.
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Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Balram Bhargava warned that India was still not out of the second wave of the pandemic. The reason why SARS-CoV-2 mutated include random error during replication, immune pressure after treatments (Convalescent Plasma, Vaccination etc), uninterrupted transmission due to lack of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, which allowed the virus to transmit more and acquire fitness, he pointed out.
‘Made in India’ vaccine
Meanwhile, Chairman of the COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) Narendra Kumar Arora said India would soon have the world’s first DNA-plasmid COVID-19 vaccine by Zydus Cadilla. This would be a ‘made in India’ vaccine. The other vaccine that could be expected soon was Biological E – a protein sub-unit vaccine.
In a release issued by the Health Ministry based on an interview he gave to the Department of Science and Technology’s OTT - India Science Channel, Dr. Arora stated that trials of these vaccines have been quite encouraging.
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“We are hopeful that this vaccine will be available by September. The Indian m-RNA vaccine, which can be stored at temperature 2 - 8 Degree Celsius should also be available by September. Two other vaccines, namely Novavax by the Serum Institute of India and Johnson & Johnson, may also be expected soon. By July third week, the production capacity of Bharat Biotech and the SII are going to be increased phenomenally. This will enhance the vaccine supply in the country. By August, we expect to procure 30-35 crore doses in a month,” he observed. India would be able to vaccinate one crore people in a day soon, he claimed.
Vaccination of children
At the press conference, responding to a question on when vaccination would be available for children, Dr. Bhargava said there was only one country that was giving vaccine to children at the moment.
Delta plus is a variant of concern, says government
“Whether very small children will ever need the vaccine is still a question. We won’t be in a position to vaccinate children at large till we have enough data. However, we have started a small study on those between the ages of 2-18 and we shall have results by September or so. We still have no definite answer to the question. We have seen some complications in the U.S.,’’ he stated. Covishield and Covaxin worked against the variants of SARS CoV 2 and their response to the latest variant in the country was under investigation, he added.
