The National Institute of Virology, Pune, has detected a new Covid-19 variant — B.1.1.28.2 — through genome sequencing of samples from international travellers from the United Kingdom and Brazil to India. The new variant is likely to cause severe symptoms. The findings of the pathogenicity evaluation show increased disease severity and point towards the need for screening of vaccine efficacy. The findings of the pre-print study has been published online on bioRxiv. However, according to an uncorrected manuscript of a separate study by NIV, Pune, the two-dose Covaxin regimen significantly boosted antibody and neutralising efficacy against the variant.