New York Times

Is a variant wrecking India?

Doctors and the media in India are citing anecdotal — and inconclusive — evidence to suggest that a homegrown variant called B.1.617 is driving the country’s terrifying outbreak.

It’s a scary idea, as the presence of the variant could make it more difficult to tame India’s disaster. A number of doctors are also saying that younger people and people who have been fully vaccinated are getting sick.

But researchers outside of India say the limited data so far suggests that the B.1.1.7 variant that walloped Britain late last year may be a more considerable factor. Scientists also say that different variants seem to dominate specific areas. For instance, the B.1.617 variant has been detected in a large number of samples from the central state of Maharashtra, while the B.1.1.7 variant is rising quickly in New Delhi. Ultimately, the data is too thin to parse because India is performing too little genomic sequencing.

Beyond the variants, scientists believe that other, possibly more obvious factors could be to blame: a low vaccination rate, lax public behavior, governmental missteps and a premature reopening of schools and businesses.