WHO tracking VOI XBB.1.5, six other variants under monitoring: Centre to states, UTs

While India has achieved over 90 percent coverage of primary vaccination, the coverage of precaution dose is very low

April 7, 2023

Health Minister Mandaviya reviews COVID-19 situation, asks states, UTs to increase testing, identify hotspots

COVID-19: On Friday, the Centre told the states and Union territories that currently the World Health Organization (WHO) is closely tracking one variant of interest (VOI), XBB.1.5, and six other variants are under monitoring BQ.1, BA.2.75, CH.1.1, XBB, XBF and XBB.1.16.

During a review meeting on the COVID-19 situation, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya virtually interacted with the health ministers of the states and union territories and advised them to ramp up vaccination of all eligible population, especially of the elderly and vulnerable population groups.

It was highlighted that while Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the predominant variant, most of the assigned variants have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity, or immune escape.

The prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6 percent in February to 35.8 percent in March 2023. However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalization or mortality has been reported.

It was also informed that while India has achieved over 90 percent coverage of primary vaccination, the coverage of precaution dose is very low.

[With Inputs from IANS]

PGurus is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with all the latest news and views

For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.