All you need to know about Eris, the new Covid variant spreading rapidly

New Covid variant: Eris has inherited some of its symptoms from the parent Omicron strain.

Moneycontrol News

August 07, 2023 / 11:32 IST

The new Covid variant Eris is a strain of Omicron. (File)

A new Covid variant, named Eris or EG.5.1, has been causing alarm as it spreads rapidly across the UK. Initially identified as a variant on July 31, Eris is a variant of the Omicron strain and has now become the second most prevalent one, accounting for a troubling one in ten Covid cases.

The surge in infections comes at a time when the country is grappling with a spike in hospital admissions, further compounded by inclement weather and waning immunity.

The situation has prompted experts to sound the alarm bells, warning of the potential for another wave fuelled by subvariants of Omicron, Arcturus, and Eris.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has been closely monitoring the emergence of Eris since July 3, 2023, following a significant increase in international reports, particularly in Asian regions.

In the week beginning July 10, approximately 11.8% of UK sequences were identified as Eris, and the latest data indicates that this figure has climbed to a worrisome 14.6% of all cases.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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