How Concerning are Kappa and Lambda Variants of COVID-19?

Two cases of the Kappa variant were reported by the UP government on 9 July during a routine genomic study.

The Big Story Podcast on Lambda and Kappa COVID-19 Variants. Image used for representation only.

(Photo: Arnika Kala/The Quint)

As the second wave of COVID-19 seems to be ebbing across India, a new variant sparked fears again on 9 July when the Uttar Pradesh government reported two cases of the Kappa variant of the virus in the state.

While we know about the Delta variant of the virus, which was believed to be responsible for the deadly second wave, the Kappa variant has not received as much public attention.

But while Kappa has been the talk in health circles for a while, a new variant named Lambda by the World Health Organization (WHO), first detected in Peru, is drawing attention from across the world.

While no cases of this variant have been reported in India, the limited knowledge and studies done on this variant and with its capabilities unknown, it has kept health authorities across the world on their toes.

In today’s episode, we will discuss how concerning are these two variants of COVID, how effective are vaccines against them and what strategies can India adopt to prevent the next surge.

To answer this, for today’s episode we spoke to Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist and a public systems expert.