New Delhi: Even as India witnesses a decline in Covid-19 cases, the emergence of a new variant of interest called Kappa in Uttar Pradesh has put the Health Ministry to worry.
Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said Kappa variant had some presence in India in March as well, similar to the Delta variant and we need to keep an eye on the scientific impact and vaccine immunity of Kappa variant.
Paul added that Kappa is much less in intensity and has been replaced by the Delta variant. “Kappa variant was present in the country even during February-March but Delta variant which is similar to Kappa variant. It was suppressed when the Delta variant surfaced and we had this variant (Kappa) for sometime in our nation, it has been overwhelmed by the delta variant which is a related variant and is much more transmissible and that has been responsible for the second wave we saw. This variant (Kappa) is much less in the intensity, it is on the margins and has been replaced by delta largely,” he said.