• ENG

Covaxin Can Effectively Neutralise The Double Mutant Strain: ICMR

Covaxin Can Effectively Neutralise The Double Mutant Strain: ICMR
आईसीएमआर का अध्ययन दिखाता है कि कोवैक्सीन सार्स-सीओवी-2 के विभिन्न प्रकारों को निष्प्रभावी करता है!

The double mutant variant, which was first reported late last year in India, has now jumped to at least 10 other countries.

Written by Longjam Dineshwori |Updated : April 21, 2021 6:22 PM IST

A new Covid-19 variant with a double mutation, named as B.1.617, is thought to be fuelling India's second wave of the pandemic. It has been found in saliva samples collected from several states including Maharashtra, Punjab, and Delhi. The variant of concern has also been detected in several other countries now jumped to at least 10 other countries like Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. According to health experts, the double mutant strain contains mutations from two separate virus variants, namely E484Q and L452R, which make it more infectious and deadly. Can double mutation evade current vaccines as well? At least not Covaxin, the Covid-19 vaccine developed locally by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd. in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Covaxin is one of the two covid-19 vaccines currently used in the country to protect people against the novel coronavirus, another is Covishield (which is developed by Serum Institute in collaboration with AstraZeneca).

Citing the findings of a study carried out by it, the ICMR announced on Monday that Covaxin can neutralise multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2, including the double mutant strain. According to the apex health research body, its National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) had recently successfully isolated and cultured the double mutant strain. Further, in a study, it found that Covaxin can effectively neutralise the double mutant strain as well as other variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2 virus including B.1.1.7 (the UK variant) and B.1.1.28 (Brazil variant). The study was published in the Journal for Travel Medicine in March.

However, Anurag Agrawal, Director, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, told the Hindu that while the double mutant variant spreads fast, it does not seem to be causing greater mortality.

Also Read

More News

Meanwhile, India recorded 2.95 lakh new coronavirus cases and 2,023 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am Wednesday, the biggest daily increase yet. Globally, there have been 141,754,944 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,025,835 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation, as of 3:57pm CEST, 20 April 2021.

With inputs from IANS