New strain won’t affect COVID-19 vaccine efficacy: CCMB chief

HYDERABAD: Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Director Dr Rakesh Mishra briefed Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu in the city on Thursday, about the new strains of the novel Coronavirus that have been detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa recently.

Dr Mishra apprised the Vice President that the mutations in the new strains are less likely to change the efficacy of the vaccines which are under development. The senior scientist also informed him that there is no evidence which suggests that the strains are associated with worse outcomes for patients. The same disease management strategies are expected to work for the mutant virus strains too. 

Investigations are underway to find out whether the new strains are indeed 71 per cent more infectious, Dr Mishra said. A parallel strain in South Africa has been found to be affecting younger people more, though thorough research is required.

The analysis of genomes sequenced by CCMB and other researchers has revealed that the initial spread of the virus in India was mainly due to a novel India specific clade, named I/A3i clade, which possibly entered India from Southeast Asian countries. Over time, this was eventually replaced by the A2a clade, which is also the globally prevalent strain of the virus, the CCMB Director told the Vice President.