Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia (INSACOG), a multi-laboratory, multi-agency, pan-India network to monitor genomic variations in coronavirus initiated by the Ministry of Health and Indian Council of Medical Research, said on Wednesday that there is clear experimental and clinical data supporting the very high immune escape potential of Omicron variant of the virus, which is now rapidly spreading across the world. 

“There appears to be significantly reduced ability of vaccines or prior infection to protect against symptomatic infection by the Omicron variant,” said the network in its latest bulletin citing global data.

Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare confirmed today that the country’s overall tally of the infection cases by this ‘variant of concern’ has already risen to 961, referring to data obtained from across the country till Wednesday morning.