India has developed herd immunity; BF.7 variant may not be as serious as in China: CCMB

India

oi-PTI

Hyderabad,
Dec
25:
The
severity
of
BF.7
variant
of
coronavirus
in
India
may
not
be
as
serious
as
it
is
currently
prevailing
in
China
as
Indian
have
already
developed
“herd
immunity”
a
top
official
of
CSIR-
Centre
for
Cellular
and
Molecular
Biology
(CCMB)
here
said.

Vinay
K
Nandicoori,
Director
CCMB,
stressing
the
need
to
follow
Covid
appropriate
behaviour,
said
there
is
always
a
concern
that
all
these
variants
have
the
ability
to
escape
the
immunity
and
can
infect
people
who
are
vaccinated
and
even
sometimes
infected
with
the
previous
variants
of
Omicron.

“The
severity
of
the
infection
is
not
as
much
as
they
used
to
be
with
Delta.
That’s
because
of
the
fact
that
we
do
have
herd
immunity
to
an
extent.
Actually
we
have
herd
immunity
because
we
are
exposed
to
the
other
viruses,”
he
told
PTI.

Media
reports
indicate
that
India
reported
four
cases
of
BF.7
variant
of
coronavirus.
“We
(India)
have
seen
the
Delta
wave
which
is
a
big
one.
Then
we
have
got
vaccination
done.
And
then
the
Omicron
wave
came
and
we
continued
booster
doses.
We
are
different
in
many
ways.
What
is
happening
in
China
may
not
happen
in
India
because
of
that,”
he
further
said.
India
reported
201
new
coronavirus
infections,
while
the
active
cases
increased
to
3,397,
the
Union
health
Ministry
said
on
Saturday.

The
official
said
the
“Zero
Covid
Policy”
followed
by
China
is
one
of
the
reasons
for
the
outbreak
of
the
infection
in
that
country
and
opined
that
lower
vaccination
levels
may
also
have
contributed
to
the
severity.

“It
is
actually
that
(the
zero
Covid
policy
that
China
is
followed)
and
also
the
fact
is
in
China,
not
many
people
really
went
for
the
vaccine
as
it
has
happened
in
India
all
the
older
population
is
vaccinated
and
sometimes
even
sometimes
booster
dose
has
been
given
to
older
population
or
susceptible
population,”
he
said.

Maintaining
that
at
this
point
it
cannot
be
asserted
that
there
may
or
may
not
be
a
wave
in
India,
Nandicoori
said
as
of
now
it
does
not
seem
to
be
that
alarming
that
a
wave
is
coming
right
away.

Currently
there
is
enough
capacity
within
India
both
for
the
Covid
tests
as
well
as
therapy
and
vaccination.
They
are
accessible
to
many
people,
he
added.