India-variant COVID-19 cases more-than-double in UK

In the circular, the Public Health England said that the cases are still predominantly affecting the North West of England – particularly Bolton – and London, but clusters of cases are seeing across the country.

Moneycontrol News

May 22, 2021 / 12:27 IST

A woman walks past an information sign amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bolton, Britain. (Image: Reuters)

The United Kingdom now has 3,424 COVID-19 cases of the B1.617.2 variant of concern (VOC) first identified in India.

The number of cases has more-than-doubled with an additional 2,111 infections of the India-dominant variant, also known as VOC-21APR-02, since last week, compared to a total of 1,313 the week before, said Public Health England (PHE) in its latest weekly variant cases data issued on May 20.

In the circular, the PHE said that the cases were still predominantly affecting the North West of England – particularly Bolton – and London, but clusters of cases are seeing across the country.

“There is evidence that VOC-21APR-02 is growing rapidly and may be more transmissible than VOC-20DEC-01, the Kent variant that is currently dominant in the UK. Experts at PHE are monitoring the situation closely,” PHE said.

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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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