WHO declares coronavirus mutation in India ‘variant of concern’

UN health agency classifies the coronavirus mutation detected in India as ‘a variant of concern at the global level’.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the COVID-19 mutation that has appeared in India as a “variant of concern”. WHO’s senior scientist Maria Van Kerkhove said on Monday that there was “some available information to suggest increased transmissibility of B.1.617”, the variant detected in India. She also pointed to early studies “suggesting that there is some reduced neutralisation”, a reference to the possibility that vaccines might be less effective against it.