A misleading headline
No question about the profound crisis in India but to ascribe it to B.1.617, a variant of interest, in inaccurate,
It& #39;s not a "double mutant"—there are 13 mutations /1

2 other major variants, B.1.351 (SA)and B.1.1.7 (UK), are circulating (graph via @trvrb) See hishttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">
https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1385660979124400134"It& #39;s">https://twitter.com/trvrb/sta... hard for me to infer the degree to which new variants are driving the surge in cases in India" /2

The 3 key spike mutations in B.1.617
E484Q is unlikely to be of consequence
https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/fulltext/S1931-3128(21)00082-2
L452R">https://www.cell.com/cell-host... is shared with CA variant; it has some but not very high level of immune evasion
P681R in many other variants, of uncertain significance /3

Other good news: Recent lab studies indicate vaccine& #39;s ability to neutralize B.1.617, as expected from its structure https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/covaxin-can-neutralise-double-mutant-variant/articleshow/82189480.cms">https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/... /4

Here are the data and preprint to back that up
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.23.441101v1
via">https://www.biorxiv.org/content/1... @RiddhiKaul

It& #39;s not just about B.1.617
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/world/asia/india-covid19-variant.html
by">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/2... @gettleman @shalinivbhagat @apoorva_nyc
with @K_G_Andersen @celinegounder @jcbarret