The Indian variant of the coronavirus is more contagious and appears to be resistant to vaccines, contributing to the galloping outbreak of the epidemic in India, warned on Saturday (May 8) the chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) Soumya Swaminathan.
Read also: India: vaccination slows as the Covid-19 epidemic accelerates
For the first time on Saturday, India recorded the deaths of more than 4,000 people from Covid-19 in 24 hours and more than 400,000 new infections, but experts believe that the official figures are largely underestimated.
In an interview with AFP, Ms Swaminathanan, an Indian pediatrician and researcher, said that the B.1.617 variant, which was first detected in India in October, was undoubtedly a factor accelerating the epidemic. got out of control in the country.
This variant could be classified by the WHO in the list of variants considered to be more dangerous than the original version of the virus because of their greater contagiousness, their ability to overcome the defenses provided by vaccination and the death rate of affected patients. , estimated the scientist.
The B.1.617 variant "
has mutations that increase transmission, and which can also potentially make it resistant to antibodies that have developed through vaccination or natural contamination,
" she explained.
But the variant alone cannot be blamed for the dramatic increase in cases in India, which seems to have let their guard down too soon, with "
large mass gatherings
", she noted.
In a large country like India, contaminations can continue quietly for months.
"
Those early signs were missed until (the transmissions) reached a point where takeoff was vertical
."
For the moment, it is very difficult to fight against the virus "
because the epidemic affects thousands of people and it is multiplying at a rate that is very difficult to stop
", said Ms. Swaminathan, warning that the vaccination alone would not be sufficient to regain control of the situation.
India, the world's largest producer of vaccines, has so far administered two doses to only 2% of its population of 1.3 billion.
"
It will take months, if not years, to reach a rate of 70 to 80%
" of the immune population, according to the researcher.
In the near future, it will be necessary to rely on social and health measures already tested and proven to curb the epidemic, she warned.
And the scale of the epidemic in India increases the risk of the emergence of even more dangerous new variants.
"The
more the virus replicates, spreads and is transmitted, the more the risk of mutations and adaptation
" increases, underlined the scientist.
"
Variants that accumulate a large number of mutations may eventually become resistant to the vaccines we currently have
."
“
It will be a problem for the whole world,
” said Soumya Swaminathan.