The variant of the Covid-19 virus discovered in India, B.1.617, was classified as "
worrying
", the World Health Organization announced on Monday, in particular because it is more contagious.
Read also: Covid-19: does the Indian variant spare France?
“
There is information that B.1.617 is more contagious
” but also evidence to suggest that it has a degree of resistance to vaccines, and “
therefore we classify it as a variant of global concern
”, said declared Doctor Maria Van Kerkhove, technical manager of the fight against Covid-19 within the WHO.
The scientist explained that more details will be published Tuesday in the weekly epidemiological report of the UN agency but that there remains a lot of research to be carried out on this variant, in particular by the means of an increased sequencing, "
to know how much of this virus circulates
”but also the degree of“
severity
”with which it attenuates the effectiveness of vaccines.
“
We don't have anything to suggest at this time that our diagnostics, our medications and our vaccines aren't working. And that's important,
”she stressed, insisting on the fact that we must continue to apply health measures such as social distancing, wearing a mask, reducing contact, etc. "
We will continue to see worrying variants and we must do everything possible to limit transmission, limit infections, prevent contagion and reduce the severity of the disease,
" she insisted.
This variant is one of the reasons - but far from the only - which explains the explosion of the pandemic in India and the worst hotbed of the pandemic in the world today. According to official statistics, some 4,000 people currently die each day from Covid-19 in India, where the total toll of the epidemic is close to 250,000 deaths. Many experts consider these figures lower than reality, citing in particular data from crematoriums.
