A COVID-19 variant that seems to be predominantly spreading in India amid a virulent second wave of the pandemic has now been red-flagged by World Health Organization too.
The B.1.617 variant appears to be much more contagious and has been classified as being “of concern” by the WHO.
“There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility and also possibly some increased resistance to vaccine protections,” said WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkove.
“As such, we are classifying this as a variant of concern at the global level,” she added.
The Indian variant has been detected in at least 17 countries last month.
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