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covid variant

Three shots of BioNTech, Pfizer neutralizes Omicron

by Vaishali Sharma December 9, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

In a laboratory test, BioNTech and Pfizer stated on Wednesday that a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralise the novel Omicron strain, and that an Omicron-based vaccine could be delivered in March 2022 if needed.

BioNTech and Pfizer said that two vaccine doses resulted in significantly lower neutralising antibodies, but that a third dose of their vaccine increased neutralising antibodies by a factor of 25 in the first official statement from vaccine manufacturers on the likely efficacy of their shot against Omicron.

Blood from those who had their third booster shot a month ago neutralised the Omicron strain about as well as blood from persons who had two doses of the original virus that was first discovered in China.

The best course of action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to ensure that as many people as possible are properly vaccinated with the initial two dose series and a booster,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

The findings are consistent with a preliminary study published on Tuesday by researchers at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa, which found that Omicron can partially evade protection from two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, implying that a third shot could help prevent infection.

December 9, 2021 0 comment

Covid News and Updates

Pfizer Covid vaccines may not fully protect against Omicron: Study

by Vaishali Sharma December 8, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

In an early investigation, researchers in South Africa discovered that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine (Covid-19) provided less immunity against the Omicron variation than to other major variants of the virus. When compared to the strain discovered in China almost two years ago, Omicron resulted in a 40-fold drop in neutralising antibodies produced by persons who had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech SE injection in lab studies done at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban.

Alex Sigal, the head of research at the laboratory, said that the loss of immune protection is “robust, but not complete” and that further efficacy studies are needed to appropriately take on board the exact extent of the vaccine’s impact in mitigating the disease caused by this new strain.

Speaking at an online presentation of the first reported experiments gauging the efficacy of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine against Omicron, Sigal said there will be “more breakthrough” of vaccine-induced immunity as he pushed the idea of getting booster shots to protect oneself against the new variant.

“A good booster probably would decrease your chance of infection, especially severe infection leading to more severe disease,” the Bloomberg news agency quoted the researcher as saying. “People who haven’t had a booster should get one, and people who have been previously infected should be vaccinated.”

Although these are early studies into the efficacy of existing vaccines against Omicron, the preliminary results have raised concerns that immune protection from vaccination or a previous bout of Covid-19 may be insufficient to stop reinfections or stem a fresh wave of cases and hospitalisations.

However, a top WHO official stated on Tuesday that there is no reason to believe that Omicron is more severe than previous strains or that existing vaccines will fail to protect against it. In an interview with AFP, Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergency director, said there is presently no evidence that existing vaccines will fail to protect those who get Omicron from the disease’s severe results.

A similar assurance was echoed on Tuesday by US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci, who said that Omicron is certainly not worse than the previous strains, including Delta.

However, both the experts agreed that more epidemiological data from around the world is needed to affirm scientific consensus on this. Since South Africa announced the discovery of Omicron on November 25, about 450 researchers globally have been working to isolate the variant from patient specimens, grow it in labs, verify its genomic sequence, and establish methods to test it in blood plasma samples, according to WHO.

Sigal’s laboratory was the first to isolate the Beta variant, a strain of the coronavirus that was identified in South Africa late last year. The latest research in his lab involved testing 14 blood plasma samples collected from a dozen people who had been given a second Pfizer-BioNTech shot about a month earlier to gauge the concentration of antibodies needed to neutralise or block the virus.

December 8, 2021 0 comment

Covid News and Updates Gujarat

Gujarat: Man returned form Zimbabwe tests Omicron positive

by Vaishali Sharma December 4, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

According to the city’s Covid-19 nodal officer, whole genome sequencing of a 71-year-old NRI who arrived in Gujarat’s Jamnagar city from Zimbabwe and tested positive for Covid-19 on December 2 found that the patient is infected with the Omicron variant. The patient’s samples were submitted to two different labs: one to Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre, which found the Omicron variation, and another to NIV Pune. On Monday, NIV is anticipated to release its full genome sequencing findings.

This is the third case of Omicron found in India. Two persons in Karnataka, a 46-year-old doctor and a 66-year-old South African national, were discovered to be infected with the new type earlier this week.

In other news, the Centre has said that it anticipates the severity of the Omicron variant of coronavirus to be low in the country given the fast pace of vaccination and high exposure to the Delta variant. Speaking in the Parliament, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday highlighted that a decision on booster dose and Covid jabs for children will be taken on the basis of scientific guidance from experts.

Top genome scientists, meanwhile, have recommended a booster dose of the Covid vaccine for those above the age of 40 years with priority for high-risk and high-exposure populations, according to the weekly bulletin of Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomics Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG), a network of national testing laboratories set up by the Government to monitor genomic variations of the virus.

December 4, 2021 0 comment

Covid News and Updates

Omicron acquired genetic material from common cold, study says

by Vaishali Sharma December 4, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

According to experts, the Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 certainly acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a fragment of genetic material from another virus present in the same infected cells – potentially one that causes the common cold.

This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.

This could mean the virus transmits more easily, while only causing mild or asymptomatic disease. Scientists do not yet know whether Omicron is more infectious than other variants, whether it causes more severe disease or whether it will overtake Delta as the most prevalent variant. It may take several weeks to get answers to these questions.

Cells in the lungs and in the gastrointestinal system can harbor SARS-CoV-2 and common-cold coronaviruses simultaneously, according to earlier studies. Such co-infection sets the scene for viral recombination, a process in which two different viruses in the same host cell interact while making copies of themselves, generating new copies that have some genetic material from both “parents.”

This new mutation could have first occurred in a person infected with both pathogens when a version of SARS-CoV-2 picked up the genetic sequence from the other virus, Soundararajan and colleagues said in the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.

The same genetic sequence appears many times in one of the coronaviruses that causes colds in people – known as HCoV-229E – and in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, Soundararajan said.

South Africa, where Omicron was first identified, has the world’s highest rate of HIV, which weakens the immune system and increases a person’s vulnerability to infections with common-cold viruses and other pathogens. In that part of the world, there are many people in whom the recombination that added this ubiquitous set of genes to Omicron might have occurred, Soundararajan said.

“We probably missed many generations of recombinations” that occurred over time and that led to the emergence of Omicron, Soundararajan added.

More research is needed to confirm the origins of Omicron’s mutations and their effects on function and transmissibility. There are competing hypotheses that the latest variant might have spent some time evolving in an animal host.

In the meantime, Soundararajan said, the new findings underscore the importance of people getting the currently available COVID-19 vaccines.

“You have to vaccinate to reduce the odds that other people, who are immunocompromised, will encounter the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” Soundararajan said.

December 4, 2021 0 comment

Covid News and Updates

12 suspected Omicron cases admitted to Delhi’s LNJP hospital

by Pragati Singh December 3, 2021

written by Pragati Singh

Twelve overseas arrivals suspected of being infected with the Omicron strain of Covid-19 have been hospitalised to Delhi’s designated Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital.

Ten of the twelve have tested positive for Covid-19, while the other two are exhibiting symptoms but have yet to be tested.

On Thursday, there were eight patients in the ward. The figure increased to twelve with four new cases reported on Friday. Of these four, two passengers returned from UK, one from France and one from the Netherlands.

All twelve samples wil be genome sequenced in order to determine which strain of the coronavirus they belong to.

As per a government directive, all individuals who test positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus are to be isolated and treated at LNJP Hospital. So far, two confirmed cases of Omicron have been detected in India, both in Karnataka.

OMICRON TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

According to the Centre’s travel restrictions in light of the Omicron variant, passengers arriving in India from ‘at-risk’ nations have to undergo an RT-PCR test at the airport. Those who test positive will be shifted to isolation facilities while those who test negative have to undergo seven-day home quarantine.

The countries designated as “at-risk” are the European countries, the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

December 3, 2021 0 comment

Covid News and Updates

Sputnik V, Sputnik Light will be able to neutralize Omicron, says RDIF

by Vaishali Sharma November 30, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

According to the Gamaleya Institute, the Russian COVID-19 vaccines Sputnik V and Sputnik Light are predicted to neutralise the novel coronavirus strain Omicron.

The Gamaleya Institute believes that both Sputnik V and Sputnik Light will neutralise the current Omicron variant, according to Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

According to Kirill Dmitriev, the Gamaleya Institute has already began producing a new version of the Sputnik vaccine suited to Omicron, based on current methods for developing vaccination versions for variants of concern as soon as possible.

In the unusual event that such a change is required, the new Sputnik Omicron version can be ready for mass manufacturing in 45 days, he noted.

“The Gamaleya Institute believes that Sputnik V and Sputnik Light will neutralise Omicron as they have the highest efficacy against other mutations. In an unlikely case a modification is needed, we will provide several Sputnik Omicron boosters by February 20, 2022,” said Dmitriev.

The Russian Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines have proven to be highly effective against all variants of SARC-Cov-2 known to date. The RDIF said that Sputnik vaccine’s efficacy is based on the heterogeneous boosting approach using two different vectors for two shots, pioneered by the Gamaleya Institute, and a proven adenoviral vector platform, which triggers a broader immune response as compared to mRNA vaccines.

The B.1.1.529 variant, named Omicron, was first reported to WHO from South Africa on November 24. The global health body said on Monday that Omicron is a highly divergent variant with a high number of mutations, including 26-32 in the spike, some of which are concerning and may be associated with immune escape potential and higher transmissibility. However, there are still considerable uncertainties, added the global health body.

November 30, 2021 0 comment

MOHFW news

No cases of Omicron variant found so far in India, says health minister

by Vaishali Sharma November 30, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

As countries began to impose new restrictions on the newly discovered Omicron variant, which is said to be more lethal than the Delta variant, which was the cause of India’s devastating second coronavirus wave, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday that no case of the new variant has been detected so far in the country.

Addressing the upper house of the Parliament, Rajya Sabha, during the question hour, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandvaiya said, “No case of COVID19 variant Omicron reported in India so far”.

Owing to the information received on the virus, the minister said that an advisory has been issued in this regard. He further assured that all necessary precautions are being taken to stop the virus from entering the country.

“We are immediately checking suspicious cases and conducting genome sequencing. We have learnt a lot during the COVID crisis. Today, we have a lot of resources and laboratories. We can manage any situation,” the minister said.

His remarks came on the day when Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting with states and UTs on Tuesday and advised them to ramp up testing for early identification and management of cases.

While underlining that the new variant doesn’t escape RT-PCR and RAT tests, Bhushan asked states and UTs to ensure adequate infrastructure and supervised home isolation. ln view of the possible threat that the new Variant of Concern (VoC ) can pose to the nation, the ministry has asked all states and UTs to focus on intensive containment, active surveillance, enhanced testing, monitoring of hotspots, increased coverage of vaccination and ensure augmentation of health infrastructure.

Meanwhile, India has issued new guidelines for the international passengers arriving in India, after some countries reported the cases of this variant. As per the advisory, the self-declaration board form on Air Suvidha Portal, which has the travel history of the last 14 days of all international passengers arriving in India, is filled completely before boarding.

The new guidelines also said that airlines shall put in place a proper randomization process for testing about 5 per cent of the passengers in flights on arrival. “Additional RT-PCR facilities, as required, may also be set up at all airports,” it added.

Similarly, Genestrings lab is deploying its staff at the Delhi airport for testing the passengers for COVID is increased the testing capacity, as Delhi airport witnessed huge international arrival passengers on peak time. The lab also aims to provide the test reports in four hours to reduce the waiting time period of the passengers by ensuring adequate requirements of staff

The B.1.1.529 Covid variant or Omicron, first detected in South Africa last week, was designated by the World Health Organisation as a ‘variant of concern’, the health body’s top category for worrying coronavirus variants.

The Centre on Sunday introduced stricter guidelines for people travelling from or transiting through ‘at-risk’ countries and issued a slew of directions to the states for ramping up testing-surveillance measures and health facilities. It also decided to review the resumption of international flights.

November 30, 2021 0 comment

World Health Organization

Omicron poses ‘very high’ risk globally, says WHO

by Vaishali Sharma November 29, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global warning on Monday, stating that the new COVID-19 form, Omicron, posed a “very high” danger.
It emphasised that questions about how contagious and harmful the strain was remained, according to news agency AFP.

“If another major surge of COVID-19 takes place driven by Omicron, consequences may be severe,” WHO stated, as quoted by AFP.

However, it added that “to date, no deaths linked to Omicron variant have been reported.”

Meanwhile, the WHO on Monday opened a long-planned special session of member states to discuss ways to strengthen the global fight against pandemics like the coronavirus, at a time when the new Omicron variant has sparked immediate worry worldwide, the Associated Press reported.

The new and potentially more contagious B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on November 24.

Naming it Omicron, the WHO had declared it to be a variant of concern.

The classification puts Omicron into the WHO’s top category of worrying COVID-19 variants which includes the globally-dominant Delta, and the weaker variants Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.

Omicron is said to have a lot of mutations, around 50 in all. Importantly, more than 30 of the changes were discovered in the spike protein, which is the component that the virus utilises to enter the cells it attacks, according to South African genetic scientists.

As a result of the new variant’s alarming growth, countries all over the world have imposed travel bans and restrictions on southern African countries in an effort to stem the spread of Omicron.

Meanwhile, according to AFP, the WHO has stated that completing research of the Omicron variation to determine if there are any changes in transmissibility, severity, or consequences for COVID vaccinations, testing, and treatments could take several weeks.

November 29, 2021 0 comment

World Health Organization

WHO shares features of the new Omicron variant

by Vaishali Sharma November 29, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

Omicron, a recently identified coronavirus strain, has caused concern among governments around the world due to its rapid transmissibility. The Omicron Covid-19 variant has already been designated as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization. The variant has raised concerns about the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which has been going on for nearly two years. As a result, a dozen countries have closed their borders in order to contain the pandemic’s next phase.

At present, WHO is coordinating with a large number of researchers around the world to better understand Omicron. Studies currently underway or underway shortly include assessments of transmissibility, the severity of infection (including symptoms), the performance of vaccines and diagnostic tests, and the effectiveness of treatments.
According to the WHO findings, there may be an increased risk of reinfection with Omicron (i.e., people who have previously had COVID-19 could become reinfected more easily with Omicron), as compared to other variants of concern.
Regarding the nature of the new variant, the WHO has advised countries to implement effective public health measures to reduce COVID-19 circulation overall. The UN body has also advised countries to ensure that a maximum number of population get vaccinated.
The WHO has said that it is unclear whether the Omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe disease compared to other variants, including the highly-transmissible and globally prevalent Delta variant. “There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants,” the WHO said.
- The global heath body said it is trying to understand the potential impact of this variant on existing countermeasures, including vaccines. “Vaccines remain critical to reducing severe disease and death, including against the dominant circulating virus, Delta. Current vaccines remain effective against severe disease and death.”

November 29, 2021 0 comment

Covid News and Updates

PM Modi cautions nation against new variant

by Vaishali Sharma November 29, 2021

written by Vaishali Sharma

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cautioned against using the new Covid version ‘Omicron’ before the commencement of Parliament’s Winter Session. On the weekend, he conducted a Covid review meeting in response to worries about a new strain discovered in South Africa.

“Reports of a new variant are making us even more alert. I appeal to parliament and all of you to be cautious as every citizen’s health is a priority in this hour of crisis,” PM Modi told reporters in his customary remarks ahead of the session.

Since the last session, PM Modi said, more than 100 crore doses of vaccine had been given and the country is now moving towards the 150 crore-mark.

Omicron was named a “Variant of Concern” by the WHO on Friday, joining Delta and its lesser competitors Alpha, Beta, and Gamma in the most dangerous category of Covid variations.

Following cases in Botswana, Italy, Hong Kong, Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Canada, Israel, and the Czech Republic, the government is preparing to strengthen travel procedures and inspections for tourists.

The occurrences in Hong Kong are particularly concerning because the two patients (both from southern Africa) were isolated in different rooms, suggesting that the B.1.1.529 strain is spread through the air.

Several nations have already implemented travel restrictions and prohibitions on flights to and from South Africa and its neighbours.

PM Modi reportedly requested a review of measures to remove travel restrictions during his Saturday meeting with officials and experts.

He stressed on the need to monitor all international arrivals and for Covid tests with a focus on those arriving from countries designated as ‘at risk’ by the Health Miniser.

Omicron has been red-flagged for “an alarmingly high number of mutations” that might make it more resistant to vaccines, increase transmissibility and lead to more severe symptoms.

November 29, 2021 0 comment

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