Covid-19 BF.7 variant: What we know so far

Amid resurgence of coronavirus cases in China, countries across the world, including India, are mobilising precuationary dose vaccination and taking stringent measures to curb the spread of the newly detected Omicron variant BF.7.

The variant has been the main cause of concern in China, prompting the World Health Organisation to urge countries to speed up vaccination and precuation doses. The strain has already been detected in several other countries, including the US, UK and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.

Like the rest of the world, India has also been keeping a close watch on the situation in various states and has put stringent measures to ensure the situation does not go out of hand.

What we know so far about BF.7

The BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and has the strongest infection ability, shorter incubation period, and a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated. The first case of BF.7 in India was detected in October by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre. So far, four confirmed cases have been reported in India.

Also Read | BF.7 variant of coronavirus not worrisome for India, assures Tata Institute for Genetics and Society director

Last week, PM Narendra Modi called a meeting of health officials to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country. A day earlier, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also reviewed the preparedness of the Centre to tackle the situation.

How will India be affected?

Experts are of the opinion that India may not after all see a major wave of fatal BF.7 variant because the larger part of the population has already been infected and vaccinated before.

"China is now experiencing the typical Omicron surge that other countries have already witnessed, and just like the one Hong Kong saw when it relaxed its restrictions,” former head of India’s genome sequencing consortium Dr Anurag Agarwal told The Indian Express.

“For us, the Omicron wave looked milder because the population was protected with previous infection and vaccination. Plus, we have already paid the price, so to say, during the Delta wave (of April-May 2021). People died but those who survived had better immunity. Other than that, Omicron has mainly been killing its elderly victims and we (India) do have a younger population,” Dr Agrawal added. He also said that an increase in the number of cases is not a determinant of the severity of the infection or rising deaths.

Also Read | India develops herd immunity; BF.7 variant may not be as serious as in China: CCMB chief

The severity of BF.7 variant of coronavirus in India may not be as serious as it is currently prevailing in China as Indian have already developed 'herd immunity' a top official of CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has also said.

Vinay K Nandicoori, Director CCMB, stressing the need to follow Covid appropriate behaviour, said there is always a concern that all these variants have the ability to escape the immunity and can infect people who are vaccinated and even sometimes infected with the previous variants of Omicron.

"The severity of the infection is not as much as they used to be with Delta. That's because of the fact that we do have herd immunity to an extent. Actually we have herd immunity because we are exposed to the other viruses," he told PTI. "We (India) have seen the Delta wave which is a big one. Then we have got vaccination done. And then the Omicron wave came and we continued booster doses. We are different in many ways. What is happening in China may not happen in India because of that," he further said.