Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg
A "double mutant" Covid-19 variant has emerged in India.
Among the Covid-19 variants that have emerged
This particular variant is the result of two other mutations coming together in the same virus according to the BBC and officials are studying whether it is more infectious or less affected vaccines.
India recorded its highest single-day tally of new infections and deaths this year.
The Guardian reported that 47,262 new infections were confirmed on Wednesday (Mar. 25), along with 275 deaths; India has now experienced a total of 11.7 million Covid-19 cases and 160,441 deaths.
Yet, health officials have said that the "double mutant", which was found in more than 200 samples in the hardest-hit state of Maharashtra, may not be responsible for the surge in cases.
Seems "unique to India"
Ramanan Laxminarayan, founder of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in New Delhi, was quoted by The Guardian as saying that the "double mutant" was "just another mutant which seems unique to India".
"Is there a reason to be worried about this particular variant? Not as yet, because we have no evidence that these variants are more transmissible or more lethal than what we already have," he said.
A health reporter from the BBC wrote that virus mutations were common though the impact and consequences of this particular mutation was currently unknown.
Encouragingly, vaccines have thus far been observed to be effective against many other Covid-19 variants appearing around the world.
While some have reported a drop in effectiveness as compared to the original viruses they were designed to combat, scientists were confident that, if needed, existing vaccines could be modified to deal with variants accordingly.
Top image from Shubhangee Vyas via Unsplash