All you need to know about the COVID-19 Kappa variant

India has been battling COVID-19 since the beginning of 2020. While the country bravely faced the first wave, the second and the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, is proving to be a lot harder. After the emergence of three variants, namely Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), and Gamma (P.1) in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, respectively, two more COVID variants were identified in India.

The Indian Variant Kappa

The new variants of COVID-19 were identified by the WHO as Delta (B.1.617.2) and Kappa (B.1.617.1). Both variants were first detected in India in 2020. Kappa was termed as the ‘variant of interest’ by WHO.

According to the Center for Disease Control & Prevention, a variant of concern means that there is evidence of the variant having increased transmissibility, more severe effects (increased hospitalisations or deaths), a significant reduction in neutralisation by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination, reduced effectiveness of treatment, or diagnostic detection failures. This definition fits the variant Delta but not Kappa. Hence WHO has not yet termed Kappa as a “variant of concern.”