No evidence that vaccines will not work against new COVID variant: Government

NEW DELHI: COVID-19 vaccines will work against new variants of the virus and there is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 mutants reported from the UK or South Africa, the government said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan said so far it has not been found that the new variant increases the severity of the disease.

"There is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against COVID 19 variants reported from UK or SA.

Most vaccines do target the Spike protein, in which there are changes in the variants but vaccines stimulate our immune system to produce a wide range of protective antibodies," he said.

NITI Aayog member (health) Dr V K Paul said there has been a consistent decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths which is reassuring given the current scenario across the world.

"We are consistently showing a decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases, active cases and deaths, which is very reassuring.

It stands out particularly during this very period when several nations are facing a devastating situation," Paul said.

He said majority of the population is still susceptible to the infection in the cold weather.

"The UK variant has travelled to several other countries and also to India, this variant may have its own run and we have to very careful," Paul said.

Giving a break-up on the basis of the gender and age of those infected with the novel coronavirus, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 63 per cent of total cases in the country have been reported in males and 37 per cent cases in females.

"Eight per cent cases have been reported below the age of 17 years, 13 per cent in the 18-25 years age group, 39 per cent in 26-44 years group, 26 per cent in 45-60 years group and 14 per cent above 60 years," he said.

Bhushan said 70 per cent of COVID deaths have been reported in men and 45 per cent fatalities due to this disease have been reported in those below 60 years of age.

He said the number of active cases of COVID-19 has been registered at 2.7 lakhs after six months, and the cumulative positivity rate is at 6.02 per cent while the positivity rate during last week was 2.25 per cent.

"Five states and UTs which account for 60 per cent of total active COVID-19 cases are Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," he said.