China's current COVID-19 vaccines can tackle Indian variants: expert

China’s current COVID-19 vaccines can tackle new coronavirus variants spreading in India and can provide protection “to a certain extent”, based on preliminary research results, a disease control expert said on Thursday.

Speaking at a news briefing, Shao Yiming, a researcher at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, did not elaborate on the specific vaccines or variants he referred to.

Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (briefly as China CDC) is a governmental and national-level technical organization specialized on disease control and prevention and public health. It says its mission is to create a safe and healthy environment, maintain social stability, ensure national security and promote the health of people through prevention and control of disease, injury and disability.

WHAT IS THE INDIAN VARIANT?

The B.1.617 variant contains two key mutations to the outer “spike” portion of the virus that attaches to human cells, said senior Indian virologist Shahid Jameel.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the predominant lineage of B.1.617 was first identified in India last December, although an earlier version was spotted in October 2020.

The WHO has described it as a “variant of interest”, suggesting it may have mutations that would make the virus more transmissible, cause more severe disease or evade vaccine immunity. Other strains with known risks, such as those first detected in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa, have been categorised as “variants of concern,” a higher threat level.