COVID cases with variants of concern rose from 10% in May to 51% in June: Govt officials

The government of India's top officials on Monday briefed the Parliamentary Panel chaired by senior Congress leader Anand Sharma and informed that COVID-19 cases with variants of concern spiked from 10.31 percent of total infections in May to 51 percent on June 20. There are four variants of concern of the coronavirus disease namely Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta -with Delta Plus being a sub-lineage of the Delta variant which is also a variant of concern.

As per PTI, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry Govind Mohan, Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry K Raja Raman were among the officials who were present during the briefing to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on 'Socio-economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic's second wave'. 

COVID-19 variants of concern led to increased transmissibility

Sharing details about various coronavirus variants of concern, officials told the panel that it includes the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants. These variants have been traced in 174 districts of 35 states and Union Territories, with the maximum reported from Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat. According to the details shared by officials with the parliamentarians, COVID-19 variants of concern led to increased transmissibility, change in virulence, and effect on diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines.

"Officials told parliamentarians that the proportion of COVID-19 cases with variants of concern has risen from 10.31 per cent in May to 51 per cent on June 20," a source in the panel said reported by PTI.

The panel was also informed that a similar study on evaluating the efficacy of both these vaccines against the latest variant of concern - Delta plus - is being conducted and will be completed within the next two weeks.

Notably, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) on Sunday stated that the new variant of COVID-19 Delta plus has a greater affinity to lung tissues as compared to all other variants. Having said that, the chief of the group NK Arora added that at the moment it was not clear if it causes damage or not, or is more transmissible. The variant was identified on June 11 and was declared as a Variant of Concern recently. 

Covishield, Covaxin Work Against SARS-CoV-2's Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta Variants: Govt

Both Covishield and Covaxin work against COVID variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, while effectiveness tests against the Delta Plus variant is ongoing, the government had said on June 25. ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava during the press conference had said the reduction of neutralisation capabilities of vaccines with different variants, which is based on global literature, shows that Covaxin does not change with the Alpha variant at all and so it is same as it is with the standard strain.

"Covishield reduces slightly with Alpha, by 2.5 times. For the Delta variant, Covaxin is effective but antibody response is slightly reduced to three-fold reduction, and for Covishield, it is two-fold reduction, while in Pfizer and Moderna it is seven-fold reduction," he said.

"However, Covishield and Covaxin work against the variants of SARS-CoV-2- Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta -- that is well established for these two vaccines," Bhargava said.

(Image Credits: PTI)