NEW DELHI: Scientists at Pune’s National Institute of Virology have isolated and characterised a coronavirus variant from two travellers one who returned from the UK and the other from Brail that exhibits increased disease severity in hamsters but doesn’t pose a public health problem at the moment. The two samples of the B.1.1.28.2 variant are the only ones of its kind isolated by Indian labs so far.
So far, ten anti-COVID-19 virus vaccines have been authorised for use in various parts of the world
The Corona virus that has caused the current pandemic is called SARS-CoV-2, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2. The disease itself is called COVID-19, or Corona Virus Disease, 2019. So far, ten anti-COVID-19 virus vaccines have been authorised for use in various parts of the world. Eighty one vaccines are undergoing trials with twenty at advanced stages.
The first one to arrive in Pakistan is a Chinese vaccine made by the state owned Chinese company, Sinopharm. It was developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products. It is a whole virus, killed vaccine and has been given an ‘emergency use authorisation’ by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). The results of the large scale clinical trials, called Phase III trials have not been published yet in peer reviewed medical journals. The trials have taken place in various countries, including UAE an