PremiumRussia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is more efficient against the Delta variant of Covid-19, first identified in India, than any other vaccines so far, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Tuesday.
Taking to Twitter, the official handle of the Russian vaccine affirmed that Sputnik V's efficacy is better on the Delta variant than any other vaccine that published results on the strain so far.
"RDIF: "SputnikV is more efficient against the Delta variant of coronavirus, first detected in India than any other vaccine that published results on this strain so far - the Gamaleya Center study submitted for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal," tweeted Sputnik V.
The Delta variant has been listed as the fourth Variant of Concern (VoC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is believed to have led to the resurgence of coronavirus infections in many nations, including the devastating second wave in India.
On the new Covid-19 strain, the Indian government said an additional mutation of this variant, known as Delta Plus, has been detected and submitted to a global data system.
"It has been seen in Europe since March and was brought into the public domain on 13 June," Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog, has said.
"As per data available in the public domain, this variant nullifies the use of a monoclonal antibody. We will study and learn more about this variant," the Niti Aayog member said.
Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said with the increased global transmission of variants of concern including the Delta variant, lifting restrictions too quickly could be disastrous for those who are not vaccinated.
A study has revealed that the Delta variant, which was first detected in India, is "more infectious" and is also the reason behind the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Delta variant or the B.1.617.2 strain is "more infectious" than the Alpha variant which was first detected in Kent, UK, stated the study carried out by scientists of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The WHO last month informed that the Covid-19 variant, first detected in India in October last year, had been detected in sequences uploaded "from over 40 nations in all six WHO regions".
