Covid-19 must have undergone several mutations, an average of two per month: AIIMS Director

AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria has said that the vaccine in the trial phase should also be efficacious against the coronavirus, the Times of India reported.

This comes amidst growing fears over the new and more contagious strain of the coronavirus found in the United Kingdom.

In an interview to TOI, Guleria, a member of the national task force on Covid management, asked people not to panic as the virus must have gone through several mutations, an average of two per month. “The mutations have not led to any change in symptoms and treatment strategy. According to current data, the vaccines in the trial phase, which are up for emergency authorization should also be effective against the new UK strain,” he said.

The AIIMS director further maintained that the strain in the UK was more contagious, following which the authorities red-flagged it solely.

Identify and trace people with UK strain

Meanwhile, Indian officials are trying to identify and trace people who have travel history associated with the UK. The health officials have found people coming from the UK in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Goa, among other states and some of them have tested positive for Covid-19 as well, Financial Express reported.

Earlier, VK Paul, a top Covid-19 adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had stated that the new more transmissible Covid-19 strain which was found in Britain has not yet been found in India. “It is also being said that in these viruses, the transmissibility has increased by 70 per cent, you can also call them super spreader in a way but it does not increase the propensity of death, hospitalisation and severity of the disease. What is affected is the tendency to affect more people that by itself is a cause of concern”, he said, as per media reports.