Coronavirus | 50 cases of Delta-plus variant reported in country

India has up to now reported practically 50 cases of Delta-plus SARS-CoV-2 variant, with Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu main with the utmost quantity of cases, the Union Health Ministry stated at a press convention on Friday.

Sujeet Kumar Singh, director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), stated in India, COVID-19 ‘variants of concerns’ had been discovered to be distributed in 174 districts in 35 States. The highest numbers had been 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.

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.

“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 noticed. India would be capable of vaccinate one crore individuals in a day quickly, he claimed.

Vaccination of kids

At the press convention, responding to a query on when vaccination could be out there for kids, Dr. Bhargava stated there was just one country that was giving vaccine to kids in the meanwhile.

“Whether very young children will ever want the vaccine continues to be a query. We gained’t be in a place to vaccinate kids at giant until we’ve sufficient information. However, we’ve began a small research on these between the ages of 2-18 and we will have outcomes by September or so. We nonetheless don’t have any particular reply to the query. We have seen some issues in the U.S.,’’ he said. Covishield and Covaxin labored in opposition to the variants of SARS CoV 2 and their response to the newest variant in the country was below investigation, he added.