India’s healthcare system is buckling under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heartbreaking videos of patients dying outside hospitals due to a lack of oxygen and ventilators are circulating on social media, drawing ire from those in and outside the country.
In addition to a lack of strict curbs on social interactions, many have attributed this deadly wave of COVID-19 to a new, more infectious strain called the B.1.617 variant.
Now, this variant’s status has officially been escalated.
WHO Has Now Officially Labelled the India Variant of COVID-19 As A “Variant of Concern”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially classed the B.1.617 variant as a “variant of concern”, as cases in India continue to rise at an alarming rate.
The health agency said the new variant seemed to be spreading more easily, adding that there’s also some evidence of “reduced neutralisation”.
“As such, we are classifying this as a variant of concern at the global level,” she said.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s lead on COVID-19, noted that early studies suggested there was some “reduced neutralisation” with the B.1.617 strain, meaning antibodies appeared to have less impact on the variant.
However, WHO had said it was too early to conclude that vaccines were ineffective against this strain, as the evidence of “reduced neutralisation” was based on small-sample lab studies.
“Based on current data, the COVID-19 vaccines remain effective at preventing disease and death in people infected with this variant,” it had said.
As a variant of concern, the Indian strain will be added to the list containing three other concerning variants, namely the ones in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa.
They have been classed as variants of concern for one or more of the following reasons:
- They are more transmissible
- They are more deadly
- They are able to break through a vaccine’s defences
Vaccines Can Still Prevent Serious Illness & Death
It’s important to note that even if a vaccine’s efficacy is reduced by a new strain, the vaccine can still protect against serious illness and death.
“We don’t have anything to suggest that our diagnostics or therapeutics and our vaccines don’t work,” Van Kerkhove said.
WHO’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan urged people to get “whatever vaccine is available to them and that they are eligible for.”
3,700 Deaths Recorded on 10 May in India
On 6 May, 414,433 new infections were reported across India, the highest daily tally in the world since the pandemic began.
Infections have gone down since then—329,517 infections were reported yesterday—but many Indian citizens are succumbing to the disease.
3,700 people died yesterday, bringing the country’s death toll to 250,025.
Some states have entered a lockdown to stem the spread of the disease but the authorities have resisted a nationwide lockdown due to the economic impact it would have on the country.
Feature Image: Manoej Paateel / Shutterstock.com
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