Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Updated : December 31, 2020 8:06 AM IST
The new variant of COVID-19, which was detected in the UK, is quickly spreading across the world. India too has detected the strain in samples taken from people returning from the UK. This new strain of coronavirus is said to be more transmittable and the government and experts are leaving no stones unturned to prevent its transmission in the country. The main worry now in most people's minds is whether the vaccines being developed will be effective against this new variant. Despite apprehensions, there is some good news.
Covaxin, India's COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech for COVID-19, can offer effective protection against mutations of coronavirus, Chairman and Managing Director of the city-based vaccine maker Krishna Ella said on Tuesday. He also said the company has approached regulatory authorities seeking approval for an emergency license to use the vaccine, developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology and now undergoing phase 3 trials. Meanwhile government officials have gone on record to say that, so far, the mutations have not shown that they will have an impact on efficacy of vaccine. COVID-19 vaccines will work against new variants of the virus detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, Prof K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor (PSA) to the Government of India, said on Tuesday.
According to Ella, "COVID-19 is expected to have a lot of mutation and you can be rest assured this vaccine will also protect against that (mutated) virus because of two hypotheses. So, you have these two components in the inactivated vaccine. It will also take care of those mutations," Ella said during a virtual programme organised by CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology. He was replying to a query on the new strain of coronavirus that was detected in the United Kingdom recently.
Ella said mutation was not unexpected and the virus mutates on its own to reach more people as it is a non-living organism. The executive said Covaxin, now undergoing Phase 3 trials involving about 20,000 volunteers, balances both safety and efficacy.
The new variant genome of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 20 samples taken from UK returnees. All infected people are in isolation and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. The presence of the new UK variant of the coronavirus has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore so far.
There are, at present, six COVID-19 vaccines in different clinical trial stages in India. Moreover, three vaccine candidates are also in pre-clinical trial stages. Pfizer, Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech have sought emergency use authorisation of their COVID-19 vaccines.
(With inputs from Agencies)
