CSIR-CCMB working on improving diagnostic methods to check for Omicron variant
The Hindu
Vaccines do provide protection and the focus in our country should be on vaccinating the remaining 22% population with double dosage, says Director Vinay Kumar Nandicoori
Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research–Centre For Cellular And Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) is working on specific primers for improving the current Covid testing methods like the RT-PCR where the emerging Omicran variant can be identified. “We are working on a few sets of primers, but we have to test them extensively and validate them, before we can put them out so that a positive patient can know if it is the current dominant Delta variant or the new Omicron,” said Director Vinay Kumar Nandicoori.
“As per the data available, Delta is still dominant across the country. Whether Omicron will replace it, we will see in the coming days. We should know that in South Africa where it was first detected, the Delta wave was waning when this new variant took over, which shows better infectivity and naturally the unvaccinated are prone to get infections than others,” he explained.
In an exclusive interaction, Dr. Nandicoori emphasised that vaccines do provide protection and the focus in our country should be on vaccinating the remaining 22% population with double dosage. “There are going to be fatalities among the double vaccinated also but the numbers are much less when compared to those unvaccinated. I would urge people not to get alarmed and follow Covid protocols. Panic is not going to work but precautions would,” he asserted.