Amid rising cases of Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus and fears of an impending third wave of Covid-19, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said it is examining the effectiveness of the vaccines against the new mutant strain.

ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava said it would, in about a week, produce results on the effectiveness trial of the vaccines against the Delta Plus variant. The ICMR is the nodal agency in Inda in the drive against coronavirus.

“Delta Plus is present in 12 countries; 48 cases have been detected in India, however, they have been very localised. This virus has been isolated and is being cultured. Laboratory tests to check vaccine effect are ongoing and we should have these results in seven to 10 days’ time,” Bhargava was quoted by the Indian Express as saying.

Meanwhile, India recorded a marginal dip in the daily case count as 46,148 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, as per data released by the Ministry of Health. The country also recorded 979 deaths due to the virus in the same period taking the death toll to 396,730.

The recovery rate, the ministry said, had increased to 96.80%. The daily positivity rate is at 2.94%, less than 5% for 21 consecutive days, IBNS said. (SAM)