The Delta plus variant of COVID-19 has greater affinity to lung tissues as compared to other strains but it does not mean that it will cause severe disease or is more transmissible, head of coronavirus working group NTAGI Dr N K Arora said.
A new viral variant of the coronavirus, Delta Plus, was identified on June 11. It was recently classified as a variant of concern. As on date there are 51 cases of Delta Plus have been detected across 12 states so far, with Maharashtra reporting the maximum cases of this variant.
The chairman of COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) said that, it has been found that the variant has greater affinity to lung tissues as compared to other strains of coronavirus but clarified that it does not mean the Delta Plus variant will cause more severe disease or is more transmissible.
Delta plus is having greater affinity to mucosal lining in the lungs, higher compared to other variants, but if it causes damage or not is not clear yet. It also does not mean that this variant will cause more severe disease or it is more transmissible,” Mr Arora told PTI in an interview.
Sputnik V, developed in Russia by Gamaleya Institute, is reported to show over 91.6% efficacy against coronavirus.
Covishield and Covaxin work against the variants of SARS-CoV-2- Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta — that is well established for these two vaccines,” ICMR Director General said.
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 added.
The ICMR Director General emphasized that the two vaccines currently administered in India are effective against the new Delta mutant. “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 was quoted as saying by PTI.
The Pfizer-BioNTech PFE.N vaccine is highly effective against the Delta variant of COVID-19. It is first identified in India, Delta is becoming the globally dominant variant of the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organisation.
A study says, The Russia-developed Sputnik V vaccine has been found to more efficient against the highly transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), which was found in India.
