35 cases of Covid's JN.1 variant detected in Karnataka: Health Minister

A few recent deaths because of comorbidities along with COVID infection, too were found to be infected by JN.1, he said, the new sub-variant's infection spread is neither surprising or a sudden development, and asked people not to worry, but to be cautious and take precautions.

PTI

December 25, 2023 / 19:46 IST

35 cases of Covid's JN.1 variant detected in Karnataka: Health Minister

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on December 25 said about 35 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the state so far.

A few recent deaths because of comorbidities along with COVID infection, too were found to be infected by JN.1, he said, the new sub-variant's infection spread is neither surprising or a sudden development, and asked people not to worry, but to be cautious and take precautions.

"We will share the detailed information tomorrow, exact figures, along with the breakup, as we have the COVID related cabinet sub-committee meeting. According to the report we have got, there are around 35 JN.1 positive cases in the state," Rao said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, most of the cases are in Bengaluru, along with places like Mysuru among others.

"This was expected, as JN.1 is most prevalent and is spreading across the world now. The WHO, central government and the state government has been speaking about JN.1 infections…we had information about JN.1 infections, but for confirmation genome sequencing was done and through that we have come to know about 35 cases," he said, adding that the exact ratio and details will be shared later.

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.

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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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