AY.1 , a coronavirus variant that is closely related to the prevailing Delta variant was formally acknowledged by the indian government on friday.
AY.1 or B.1.617.2.1, has a mutation called K417N that is linked to high infectivity and has been associated with the Beta variants, first identified in South Africa.
“This (AY.1) was first identified in March in Europe but brought into the public domain only two days ago” said V.K paul, Chairman, National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19, at a press conference.
Dr.Paul said that while continued mutation of the coronavirus was a biological fat, the steps against exposure remained the same-”not giving opportunities to the virus to spread”.
Five Indian laboratories submitted this variant in May and June to GISAID, global repository.
Public Health England, a U.K body, said of the 63 genomes in the GISAID repository as of June 7, six were from India.
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