India now has 240 mutated covid viruses, experts say herd immunity is difficult to achieve

Reporter : Zhu Ying / Editor : Mei Lan / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2021/02/22/a103059855.html / 

Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

The SARS-CoV-2 (CCP virus) epidemic in India has recently continued to rise. So far, the cumulative number of confirmed cases has exceeded 10 million, and the death toll has exceeded 150,000. Some Indian experts recently disclosed that 240 mutated covi strains have been discovered in India, and herd immunity may be difficult to achieve.

According to the “Russia Today” International News Agency on 21 February, Randeep Guleria, director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), an authoritative medical research and clinical institution in India, disclosed during an interview that as many as as many as 240 new variants of the CCP virus.

He revealed that the new mutant strains recently discovered in the central state of Maharashtra may be more infectious and dangerous, and some strains even have an "immune evasion" mechanism. People who already have antibodies or have been vaccinated may be infected again with the CCP virus.

He said that to achieve herd immunity, at least 80% of the population needs to produce antibodies, but new variant strains are constantly appearing, and variant strains and changing immunity over time may put people at risk of exposure to the virus again. It is difficult to achieve herd immunity.

Gurrella emphasized that mass vaccination is still "necessary", but vaccination alone is not enough. Governments of all countries need to take more active response measures, such as regular and extensive monitoring of the emergence of new strains, and consider improving vaccines to meet this challenge. The public also needs to cooperate and strictly abide by the epidemic prevention rules.

Shahshank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra State Epidemic Working Group, also confirmed that 240 new variant strains have emerged in India. He believes that this is a continuing case of confirmed cases in Maharashtra in the past week and is the reason for the surge.

In fact, in addition to Maharashtra, in India's Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, the number of confirmed cases in recent days has also continued to rise. According to the global real-time big data of CCP virus released by The Epoch Times, as of now, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of covid in India has reached 11,015,776, and the death toll from the epidemic has reached 156,495.

Since the United Kingdom first announced the discovery of a more infectious mutant strain of the CCP virus in the country at the end of last year, South Africa, the United States and many European countries have also announced the discovery of new mutant covi strains. 

Recently, a zygote variant strain formed by the combination of the British variant strain "B.1.1.7" and the California new variant strain "B.1.429" was discovered in California, USA. Subsequently, a fusion of the British and Chinese A new type of hybrid variant virus strain characteristic of the South African mutant virus was detected and its infectivity and drug resistance may increase.

The continuous renovation of CCP virus variants casts a heavy shadow on the future of the global fight against the pandemic.