Days after India’s COVID Task Force Chief VK Paul said that it is possible that the available vaccines might not be effective against the emerging variants, Randeep Guleria, the Director of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) stated yesterday, on December 19, that it is possible to modify existing vaccines to enable protection against the mutating strains of COVID19. 

“The production of a new influenza vaccine each year demonstrates that it is possible to adapt existing vaccines to keep up with viral mutations,” Guleria was quoted at the 22nd Dr V S Prayag Memorial Oration-2021 which was held in Pune.

Also Read: COVID19 vaccines may not work against new variants: Covid Task Force chief

Five days back, on December 15, COVID Task Force Chief had stated that there is a potential scenario that our vaccines may become ineffective in emerging situations.

“We have experienced Delta shock and now the Omicron shock… there is a potential scenario that our vaccines may become ineffective in emerging situations in the wake of the last three weeks of living with Omicron, we have seen how such doubts have come up, some of them may be genuine, we still don’t have the final picture,” Paul was quoted.

Also Read: Omicron’s impact expected to be less severe due to rising COVID19 vaccination: Finance Ministry

According to Gulleria, the coming two weeks will be crucial in understanding the effect of the Omicron variant on factors such as transmissibility, escaping immunity, and severity. 

Also Read: The Indian Medical Association warns of ‘massive’ third wave amid Omicron threat

Also, talking about the rise of animal-borne (zoonotic) infections in human beings, Gulleria said that increasing travel, trade, and connectivity, growing urbanisation, and encroachment into a new environment are the primary reasons behind it. 

Recently, there have been several zoonotic infections, including outbreaks of avian influenza, H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, Ebola, Zika and Nipah virus.