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WHO classifies variant found in India as being of global concern

Editor May 11, 2021

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Amid a worsening coronavirus catastrophe in India, the World Health Organization said Monday that the variant first identified in the country is being classified as a variant of global concern, after research has indicated that it spreads more easily.

Scientists fear that the variant, known as B.1.617, has fueled the surging outbreak in India, which experts say is probably undercounted. The variant is the fourth to be designated as being of global concern, after variants were first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil. The B.1.617 variant was first detected in India in October.

Officials are concerned about the variant given that it combines several mutations in the spike protein that could help the virus evade the human body’s immune system.

“There is some available information to suggest some increased transmissibility of B.1.617,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of the WHO’s coronavirus response, said at a news briefing Monday.

Van Kerkhove referred to A preprint that suggested that antibodies from vaccines or infections with other variants might not be quite as effective against B.1.617, adding that more research was needed.

“Even though there is increased transmissibility demonstrated by some preliminary studies, we need much more information about this virus variant and this lineage and all of the sub-lineages,” she said.

More information about the variant will be released in a report by the global health agency Tuesday, Van Kerkhove said.