A new variant on the block, Lambda, not reported in India to date, claim sources

The WHO designation, “Variant of Interest”, Lambda, has not been reported in India to date, claimed sources on Wednesday.

Dr Pragya Yadav, Head of the National Institute of Virology’s Maximum Containment Facility in her conversation with ANI stated that the Lambda variant which has been detected in 30 countries so far, was first reported in Peru, in December’20. Since the number of cases attributed to this variant is witnessing an upward trend across various countries globally, it indicates that it is highly transmissible. Several studies conducted, also show that it is vulnerable to mRNA vaccine-induced antibodies. Moreover, the convalescent serum was able to neutralize the said variant. When questioned about its presence in India, she mentioned that no case of the lambda variant has been reported so far.

The lambda variant has induced a sense of worry amongst people. The UK Health Ministry stated that the variant has been reported in over 30 countries in the past four weeks. The Pan American Health Organization also mentioned that the variant accounted for approximately, 82% of covid case samples in Peru between May and June. Some cases of the lambda variant have been reported in the UK by Public Health England. They recognize it to have the potential of higher transmissibility or higher resistance to annulling antibodies.