18 cases of Delta sub-variant AY.4.2 detected in India: Govt

There are 18 cases of COVID-19 Delta sub-variant AY.4.2 that have been detected in India, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Such mutated variants of coronavirus are likely to evolve as like all viruses, SARS-CoV-2 also evolves over time, Pawar said in a written reply.

Of the 18 cases of AY.4.2 detected so far in the country (as on December 3, 2021), 10 cases are from Gujarat, four from Tamil Nadu, two from Assam, and one each from Maharashtra and Telangana, she said in response to a question on whether the central government is aware that amid worries about a potential third wave of COVID-19, as many as 17 cases of the Delta variant AY.4.2 strain, which is spreading rapidly in the United Kingdom, has emerged in India.

Responding to a question on whether the central government is aware that Biotech Lab namely HLL Biotech Limited Integrated Vaccine Complex (IVC), a public sector vaccine manufacturing plant in Chengalpattu, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu is lying idle for a long period, Pawar said the Health Ministry has proactively explored various possibilities to operationalise the facility, including HLL, publishing a tender on the Central Public Procurement Portal inviting bids for selection of IVC facility user on an "as is where is" basis through competitive bidding.