JN.1 Covid variant: Experts allay fears, cite low public health risk
NEW DELHI: The emergence of the JN.1 Covid variant and India reporting 21 cases is neither surprising nor particularly worrying, say scientists, allaying fears but also advising adherence to existing precautionary measures.
The announcement on Wednesday about the increasing numbers of the new sub-variant, detected in three states, came as the Union Health Ministry reported a spike in cases. On Thursday, the count was 594 new coronavirus infections, marginally lower than Wednesday’s 614, which was the highest daily count since May 21.
“As it happens with most respiratory viruses, including the influenza viruses, the circulating viruses keep changing. Therefore, a sub-variant of SARS CoV-2 is not a surprise at all,” Chandrakant Lahariya, a senior consultant physician and public health expert said.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is circulating in all settings, he said.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) classified JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages.
The WHO defines a variant of interest as one that has genetic changes which could increase its transmissibility, virulence, and its ability to evade vaccines.
Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low, WHO said. India has also alerted states to take necessary precautionary measures.
“In India, people have already been exposed to various sub-variants, including Omicron variants, and received at least two shots of COVID-19 vaccines. There is no renewed risk of SARS-CoV-2 variant or sub-variant causing severe illness,” Lahariya said.
Kartik Vedula, infectious diseases consultant at Hyderabad’s Yashoda Hospitals said that studies have shown that JN.1 has enhanced immune evasion properties, with the potential for enhanced transmission. However, there is no current data that shows new or severe symptoms in JN.1 infected individuals, and the public need not panic,” Vedula said. Adding a note of reassurance, Vinod Scaria, senior consultant at Mumbai’s Vishwanath Cancer Foundation, said the JN.1 variant has possibly been in circulation in India as early as November 2023. JN.1 was first detected in Denmark and Israel in late July 2023.
According to WHO, current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2. The global health body added that it is continuously monitoring evidence and will update the JN.1 risk evaluation as needed.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said earlier this month that the subvariant JN.1 makes up about an estimated 15 to 29 per cent of cases in the US as of December 8. Last week, China detected seven infections of the Covid sub-variant.
