Should you worry about new XE variant of Covid? Here's what top virologist says
New Delhi, Apr 7: Should we worry about the new XE variant of Covid-19? Well, it is not a matter of concern as it is not likely to cause any more severity than other sub-variants of Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) did, said Dr Gagandeep Kang, Professor at Christian Medical College in Vellore.
"Variants will come because people are travelling. Of what we know of the variant (XE) is that it is not a point of concern," Kang said. "We were worried about BA.2 but it did not cause more serious disease than BA.1. XE does not cause more serious disease than BA.1 or BA.2," she said on the sidelines of a panel discussion organised by John Hopkins Gupta-Klinsky India Institute here.
She added that in a vaccinated population XE variant is not something to be bothered about. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued warning against XE, a new variant of Omicron first detected in the UK. It has suggested that it could be more transmissible than any Covid strain so far.
XE is a combination or recombinant of both sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2) of Omicron.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said it has detected the first case of XE infection in Mumbai. However, the Union Health Ministry said that the sample which is being said to be 'XE' variant was analysed in detail by genome experts of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), who have inferred that the genomic constitution of this variant does not correlate with the genomic constitution of XE variant.
When
asked
about
her
views
on
administering
booster
dose
to
population
below
60
years,
Kang
said
that
the
country
doesn't
have
enough
data
to
establish
the
effectiveness
of
booster
doses
among
people
younger
than
60
years.
Director
General,
Indian
Council
of
Medical
Research
(ICMR),
Dr
Balram
Bhargava
echoed
a
similar
view
on
booster
dose
and
said,
"I
agree
with
Dr
Kang."
The
panel
discussion
was
held
on
the
theme
'Applying
Lessons
Learned
from
COVID
for
a
Stronger
Health
System'.
Speaking
during
the
panel
discussion,
Dr
Bhargava
said
that
the
greatest
thing
India
learnt
from
Covid
was
that
it
became
self
confident.
"We got self-confidence that our health care system can deliver," he said. He acknowledged that there was a need to strengthen the primary healthcare system to tackle such situations in future. "We need to invest more in primary health care system and impart good training which is much needed. We need good MBBS doctors with proper raining," Bhargava said. PTI-