Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's Covaxin effective against Delta Plus: ICMR
A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that Covaxin, India's first indigenous vaccine to fight COVID-19, is effective against the Delta Plus variant.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 2 Aug 2021 11:05 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that Covaxin, India's first indigenous vaccine to fight COVID-19, is effective against the Delta Plus variant.
Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR-National Institute of Virology.
Earlier, Bharat Biotech had said that Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and 65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant.
The Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) on 22 June had designated the Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus as a 'Variant of Concern'.
Delta Plus, also known as AY.1 variant, is a mutated version of B.1.617.2 strain named Delta by the WHO. Though there is no indication yet of the severity of the disease caused by the new variant, Delta Plus is said to be resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment for COVID-19 recently authorized in India.
Four cases of the COVID-19 Delta Plus variant was detected in the two Telugu-speaking states, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) which monitors the genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in the country said on Friday.
According to reports, INSACOG has reported 70 confirmed Delta Plus cases in India. The highest number of cases, 23, was reported in Maharashtra followed by 10 in Tamil Nadu, 11 in Madhya Pradesh, and four in Chandigarh. Kerala, which is once again witnessing a high number of cases, reported three and two each were reported in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh. One Delta Plus case each was reported in Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu, Haryana, and Uttarakhand.
The genome sequencing was done by 28 laboratories. The scientist sequenced 58,240 samples of SARS-CoV-2 of which 4,172 samples were of Alpha variant and 217 samples were of the Beta variant.
It also said that Covaxin has now received emergency use authorizations (EUAs) in 16 countries including, Brazil, India, the Philippines, Iran, Mexico, with EUAs in process in 50 countries worldwide.
