November 7
Covid’s AY.4.2 variant is not of concern in India
INSACOG says that the intensity of the Covid’s AY.4.2 variant is less than 0.1 percent of all variants of concern and variant of interest (VOC/VOI). The report said that at present there is no biological basis from which the increased infectivity of this variant can be assessed in the context of the epidemic. Further investigation is going on.
INSACOG said, “There is no change to the global scenario. Delta, including B.1.617.2 (AY) and AY.x sublineages, continues to be the main VOC globally,” it said, adding that they are also the main VOC in India, where no variant has been noted.
The weekly bulletin said that AY.4.2 frequency in Indian data varies based on the definition used (PHE vs PANGO). Other than lineage-based tracking, Delta variants with immune escape mutations are also being tracked by INSACOG, some of which are also being seen by UKHSA, it added.
INSACOG is a federation of 28 National Laboratories of the country. It was established in December 2020. Its purpose was to track the genomic variants of Sorv Cov 2, which has caused the corona epidemic. Under the Union Health Ministry, it monitors new variants of corona through its network across the country.
