A new variant of the coronavirus delta strain, AY.4.2, discovered in Russia

The head of the scientific group for the development of new methods for diagnosing human diseases at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor Kamil Khafizov told RIA Novosti about the appearance of AY.4.2 in the country.

- Yes, the AY.4.2 variant of the "delta" line is already being detected in isolated cases in Russia, as follows from the sequencing results of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus genomes deposited in the "VGARus" database. In some circles, the new genovariant is called "delta plus", but the same name previously referred to another variant, and therefore there is now some confusion, "Khafizov explained.

According to him, the new option is one of the many branches of the "delta", which has advantages over the original line. However, the expert has not yet undertaken to assert how much the variant is more contagious than the "delta".

- The likelihood of its widespread distribution in the Russian Federation and in the world is sufficient. The frequency of this subline is increasing, but experts do not believe that it is she who is responsible for the continuing large number of daily cases of coronavirus infection in various countries, Khafizov said.

At the same time, he stressed that the vaccines used today in Russia are quite effective against this version of COVID-19.

Earlier it was reported that a new strain of coronavirus AY.4.2 was identified in the UK, which is up to 15% more infectious than the original version, but it is too early to say that it is more dangerous. At the same time, experts pointed out that there are about fifty derivatives from the original delta strain, but none of them has become more competitive due to changes in properties, and the infectivity of AY.4.2 has yet to be identified.