PM to hold a meeting concerning the new COVID-19 strain - "Omicron"

WHO has identified Omicron as the most-troubling COVID-19 strain

New Delhi: The world has various variants of the COVID-19 virus. Recently, the world has identified a new variant of the virus term as B.1.1.529. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing an important meeting, attended by top government officials, on the COVID-19 and vaccination situation in the country.

According to the Govt. officials, the meeting has been scheduled concerning the rise of the new variant of COVID-19 - B.1.1.529. The virus has been red-flagged by scientists over an alarmingly high number of mutations that might make the virus more resistant to vaccines, increase transmissibility and lead to more severe symptoms. 

The B.1.1.529 variant - first detected in South Africa during this week and since in Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel, and Belgium - is believed to have 50 mutations, including over 30 on the spike protein and ten on the receptor-binding domain.

The spike protein is the target of most current COVID-19 vaccines and is what the virus uses to unlock access to our body's cells. The researchers are still trying to confirm whether this makes it more transmissible or lethal than earlier variants and if existing vaccines can protect against the strain.

According to the WHO (World Health Organisation) officials, they labelled the strain as a 'variant of concern'. WHO has renamed the variant "Omicron" on Friday.

"The Omicron will be the most-troubling category of COVID-19 variants," the WHO officials added. The strain may cause a huge loss in the global economy.

"Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in Covid-19 epidemiology... the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern (VOC), named Omicron," the UN health agency said in a statement.

Last night the government said scheduled international passenger flights to and from India could return to normal, but only for countries not deemed 'at risk' by the Health Ministry.

The Chief Minister of Delhi Mr Arvind Kejriwal has also urged the PM to ban the flights coming from the affected countries.

Vaccination coverage in India is still not as high as in some other countries. As of this morning, 120.3 crore doses have been administered, of which only 42.6 crore is the second dose.