Amid rising concern over the B.1.1529 variant of coronavirus, designated as a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Professor Gagandeep Kang told India Today that the new variant could be more transmissible and could escape immunity. The B.1.1529 variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in Africa’s Botswana.

India’s top microbiologist and virologist, Gagandeep Kang, pointed out that the new variant, named ‘Omicron’ by WHO, could be more transmissible and it is very possible that it has spread to many other countries.