Daijiworld Media Network – Pune
Pune, Jun 18: As India sees a decline in active Covid-19 cases, the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV) has confirmed that the recent surge was driven by the JN.1.16 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant and a recombinant XFG variant, but both have not shown severe clinical impact.
Dr Naveen Kumar, Director of ICMR-NIV, said on Wednesday that the JN.1.16 variant was dominant until May 2025, after which it was replaced by the XFG recombinant strain, which includes LF.7 and LP.81.2. “The observations made as of now suggest that the disease associated with these strains is not very severe,” he told.
As per the latest update from the union health ministry, India has 6,483 active Covid cases and 113 deaths. The case count had surged past 7,000 since mid-April before showing signs of a decline.
Dr Kumar said NIV Pune has been monitoring the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 through genome sequencing of RT-PCR positive samples collected from 73 Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) across India. “Covid has never really gone since 2019. We are continuously monitoring the various strains circulating in the country,” he said.
India has submitted genome sequences of circulating variants to the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC) and GISAID, the global open-access virus database. NIV is also working on isolating newer variants to study them further.
“This effort will help in assessing vaccine effectiveness and will support India’s indigenous vaccine development,” Dr Kumar noted.
Currently, two monovalent Omicron-based vaccines are available in India — Corbivax by Biological E Limited and COVOVAX by Serum Institute of India. On whether new vaccines are needed to tackle emerging variants, Dr Kumar said, “That is a policy decision. NIV’s responsibility is to monitor and report the circulating strains.”
The Health Ministry is closely watching the evolving situation, and officials have urged the public to stay cautious but not alarmed, as the current variants have not led to a surge in severe infections.