Covid-19: ‘Not one but a cocktail of 4 Omicron variants roiling China’
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid China’s Covid explosion, which has infected millions and killed thousands this month, a top Indian expert said not one but four variants of the highly contagious Omicron strain are roiling the Asian country in its worst-ever health crisis.
Dr. NK Arora, who heads the Government of India’s Covid-19 panel, said China’s outbreak was caused by a cocktail of viruses that behave differently because of local epidemiology.
He said the BF.7 subvariant accounts only for 15 percent of the infection cases in China. The majority—50 percent—is from the BN and BQ series, while the SVV variant is infecting 10-15 percent of people.
In a media interview, Dr. Arora cited a report from 48 hours ago that said China is facing an onslaught of a mixture of variants.
“The Chinese vaccine which their people got is probably not effective,” he added.
Dr. Arora is the Chairman of the Covid Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), which works on the introduction of new vaccines and strengthening the universal immunization program. He has been closely involved with the rollout of vaccines from the onset of the pandemic.
About India’s Covid preparedness, he said the Indians need not panic over the fresh outbreak in China that has rung alarm bells across the world. India’s latest response is a “pre-emptive and pro-active response, primarily because there is huge opacity on the current situation in China. Opacity in terms of the cases, the severity of the cases, their vaccination status, and then the kind of variants circulating there.”
India’s fight against the pandemic is shaping up much better than China’s. The Indians have developed a robust “hybrid immunity”, a combination of immunity acquired through vaccines and widespread infection, from the first, second, and third waves of Covid-19.
“Herd immunity is a complex matter. Let’s not go into that. What we have in India is strong hybrid immunity…India has seen wave after wave of infection and many people have got exposed to natural infection,” he said.
But, because of the Zero Covid policy of the last three years, the Chinese could not be exposed to the virus before. Also, the vaccine they got is probably less effective. “I must tell you that most of them received three to four doses,” he added.
In comparison, 97 percent of Indians had two doses of vaccines, while others contracted the virus more than once. Even the children are safe because at least 96 percent of children below the age of 12 years have been exposed to Covid, he said.
“So the calibrated manner in which people were exposed even while the vaccination was going on, we see we are a very safe society from a Covid perspective,” he added.
“The opaque situation in China has led us to activate high-level precautions…there should be not a moment where we are scrambling,” Dr. Arora said.
India’s genomic surveillance is on top of everything, he said, adding most of the strains reported from China have been isolated.
About the just-launched nasal vaccine, Dr. Arora said those who have already received a booster dose will not be able to register for it on the CoWIN app. He also warned people against getting a second booster.
