New Covid mutant gains ground in India

The quickly changing coronavirus has spawned yet another super contagious Omicron mutant that’s worrying scientists as it gains ground in India and pops up in numerous other countries, including the United States.

Scientists say the variant – called BA.2.75 – may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infections. It’s unclear whether it could cause more serious disease than other Omicron variants, including the globally prominent BA.5.

“It’s still really early on for us to draw too many conclusions,” said Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “But it does look like, especially in India, the rates of transmission are showing kind of that exponential increase.”

Whether it will outcompete BA.5, he said, is yet to be determined.

Still, the fact that it has already been detected in many parts of the world even with lower levels of viral surveillance “is an early indication it is spreading,” said Shishi Luo, head of infectious diseases for Helix, a company that supplies viral sequencing information to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest mutant has been spotted in several distant states in India, and appears to be spreading faster than other variants there, said Lipi Thukral, a scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi.

It’s also been detected in about 10 other countries, including Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Two cases were recently identified on the West Coast of the US, and Helix identified a third US case last week.

Concerns over trajectory of pandemic

Fueling experts’ concerns are a large number of mutations separating this new variant from Omicron predecessors.

Some of those mutations are in areas that relate to the spike protein and could allow the virus to bind onto cells more efficiently, Binnicker said.

Another concern is that the genetic tweaks may make it easier for the virus to skirt past antibodies — protective proteins made by the body in response to a vaccine or infection from an earlier variant.

But experts say vaccines and boosters are still the best defence against severe Covid-19.

In the fall it’s likely the US will see updated formulations of the vaccine being developed that target more recent Omicron strains.

“Some may say, ‘Well, vaccination and boosting hasn’t prevented people from getting infected.’ And, yes, that is true,” he said.

“But what we have seen is that the rates of people ending up in the hospital and dying have significantly decreased. As more people have been vaccinated, boosted or naturally infected, we are starting to see the background levels of immunity worldwide creep up.”

It may take several weeks to get a sense of whether the latest Omicron mutant may affect the trajectory of the pandemic.

Free booster doses

India’s health ministry data showed on July 14 that 20,139 new cases of Covid-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,689,989 in the country.

Indian capital Delhi logged 490 new cases in the last 24 hours, and the active caseload currently stands at 136,076.

The country also logged 38 related deaths during the period, which has pushed the overall death toll to 525,557, the ministry said.

The daily positivity rate has risen to 5.10 per cent and the weekly positivity rate has increased to 4.37 per cent, the ministry data showed.

Meanwhile, the government announced that all adults will be able to get free booster (precaution) doses of the Covid-19 vaccine at government centres under a special drive over the next 75 days. The drive will start on July 15.

Health officials said the new move has been taken to increase vaccination coverage among the population in wake of the detection of new variants.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed the hope that the decision for free Covid-19 precaution dose for all citizens above 18 years of age will further India’s vaccination coverage and create a healthier nation.

Reports said so far less than 1 per cent of the 18-59 age group have been administered the booster dose.

The detection of super contagious Omicron mutant BA.2.75 that has begun to gain ground in India has worried health officials. There are fears that the new mutant may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infections.

With input from TRT World and Xinhua