Vaccine will protect against new variant: Principal Scientific Advisor

Govt will initiate studies to see relationship between new strain and seriousness of the disease; there have been 17 changes in spike protein of the virus, of which eight are key

Existing vaccines for Covid-19 will protect against the new variants, the government said on Tuesday, as there is no evidence to prove otherwise.

The changes in the variants, reported in the UK and South Africa, were not sufficient to make the vaccines ineffective, Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan told reporters.

India has set up the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium of ten government labs which would test and sequence samples from international travellers as well samples of those being admitted to hospitals. The government will initiate studies to see the relationship between the new variant and the seriousness of the disease.

Raghavan termed the increased transmissibility of the UK variant a cause of concern, saying there have been 17 changes in the spike protein of the virus, of which eight are important. One of the changes increases the possibility of viral entry into human cells, while another has earlier been linked to increased infectivity and transmission in animal models.

“Most vaccines do target the spike protein, in which there are changes in the variants. But vaccines stimulate our immune system to produce a wide range of protective antibodies,” Raghavan said.

The health ministry has also conducted a two-day dry run for Covid-19 vaccination in four states — Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat — on Monday and Tuesday. A government committee, which includes health specialists, is also working out a mechanism to decide who among people with comorbidities should get priority access to the vaccine.

For the first time in six months, India has touched 17,000 daily new cases and less than 300 deaths. Five states accounted for 60 per cent of the active cases in the country — Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

V K Paul, member-health at the NITI Aayog, said a decline in the number of new Covid-19 cases, active cases and deaths was reassuring and stood out particularly during this period when several nations are facing a devastating situation.

“The UK variant has travelled to several other countries and also to India, this variant may have its own run and we have to be very careful,” Paul said.

The health ministry data also suggests 63 per cent of the cases in the country have been reported in males and 37 per cent in females. Around 70 per cent of Covid-19 deaths have been reported in men and 45 per cent fatalities have been reported in those below 60 years of age.