Evidence from Indian laboratories suggests that the UK variant of SARS-COV2 has not yet been seen in India, Dr. V.K. Paul, member, NITI Aayog, said. “In the virus isolates that have been tracked in Indian laboratories, such a mutation has not shown up yet. However, given that we are in a pandemic situation, we have decided that recent samples of the virus will be prioritised for genome sequencing in our laboratories under the CSIR, DBT and the ICMR. This work has already begun since December 21. Earlier, too, we were doing the sequencing, but now, it is happening at faster pace,” Paul told the media.
Those who have arrived from the UK recently would also be tracked and based on their clinical condition, they would be tested and if found positive, the virus samples would be cultured and sequenced to check for the new variant.
On Monday, the Union health ministry had said a distinct phylogenetic cluster of SARS-COV 2 (named lineage B.1.1.7) has been detected. “This SARS-COV 2 is spreading and growing rapidly in the United Kingdom. It has also been reported that this variant has an unusually large number of genetic changes particularly in the spike protein. This development calls for enhanced epidemiological surveillance, enhanced containment and other measures to effectively tackle the challenge," Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan had written in a letter to the Union civil aviation ministry.
The letter recommended that flights from the UK be stopped from midnight of December 22 until December 31.
Bhushan said on Tuesday that all passengers who arrived from the UK in India prior to the suspension of flights would be followed up, and state surveillance officers would receive their details from the Bureau of Immigration for the follow-up.
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Paul underlined that as per the scientific community, as of the now, the new mutation did not affect severity of disease or mortality, and hence there was no need to “panic”. “However, what the mutation has done, is that it has increased the transmissibility of the virus by 70 per cent, and hence, to that extent, it is an adverse development,” he said.
The mutation is also understood to not affect the potential of the emerging vaccines, he added.
On emergency approval for the first COVID-19 vaccine in India, Paul said of the two vaccine companies that had been asked for additional data earlier this month, at least one company has submitted the requested data. “We are examining that data now. Today, too, we would be discussing this matter,” Paul said.
According to government sources, an emergency approval is expected shortly over the next few weeks, and distribution is likely to commence a week after the approval.
