Explained: What is the Lambda variant of Covid-19 and is it concerning?

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic begun, the virus has been mutating and challenging the scientific community, who have been busy building an effective vaccine against the infection.

One variant of the infection, called the Lambda variant (scientific name C.37), is seen to be rapidly spreading around the world. It started in Peru around last year and has now spread to China, the UK and Australia as well.

Seeing it as an emerging threat, the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the Lambda variant as the seventh and newest “variant of interest”.

Is the Lambda variant a new Covid-19 variant?

No, the Lamda variant might be termed as a “variant of interest” now, but the variant has been around for at least a year, since August 2020. It accounts for almost 80 per cent of Peru’s total infections.

Since the end of March, more than 25 countries around the world have reported cases of the Lambda variant of the Covid-19 virus.

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What is known about the Lambda variant?

The Lambda variant is known to have at least seven mutations in the spike protein with a range of implications. These range from the possibility of increased transmissibility or enhanced resistance to antibodies, according to WHO.

“There is currently limited evidence on the full extent of the impact associated with these genomic changes, and further robust studies into the phenotype impacts are needed to better understand the impact on countermeasures and to control the spread,” the WHO said in a statement.

“Further studies are also required to validate the continued effectiveness of vaccines,” it added.

Though the behaviour of the Lambda variant is not understood very well as of now, a recent study from Chile reported that this variant can infect at a greater rate as compared to Alpha and Gamma variants of the Covid-19 virus.

Why is the Lambda variant a “variant of interest”?

Lambda’s genetic changes were predicted or known to affect transmissibility, disease severity, or immune escape, hence it was given the designation of “variant of interest”.

This also further acknowledges the fact that the variant has started community transmission in multiple countries and groups of people.

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Is the Lambda variant found in India?

The Lambda variant has not yet been found in India or its neighbouring countries. Israel is the only country in Asia that has reported confirmed cases of this variant.

India still has to be cautious about this variant because several European countries from where travel to India is quite frequent have reported cases of the Lambda variant.

India needs to proactively watch out for this variant and prevent it from causing a third wave in the country.