For the study, the team planned to find out what the response would be like if the post-vaccination infections were caused by a variant other than the original Wuhan strain incorporated in vaccine preparations.
The findings of the study, conducted in February this year after isolating the Omicron variant, have been published in the Journal of Infection on April 5.
Infection by one variant does not provide protection from the other variants, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.
The cell culture study also showed that Omicron viruses remain sensitive to eight of the most important antiviral drugs and drug candidates for the treatment of Covid-19.
A scientist in Cyprus has claimed that his team has identified a new Covid variant being dubbed as 'Deltacron.'
"This suggests that having repeated exposures to the spike protein allows the immune system to continue improving the antibodies if someone had Covid then been vaccinated," Yang added.
First identified in South Africa this week, the strain has spread to nearby countries, including Botswana. Israel has identified a case of a Covid-19 variant with a large number of mutations "in a person who returned from Malawi".
The rupee on Friday plunged by 37 paise against the US dollar as investors turned cautious in view of massive selloffs in domestic equities and worries over a new variant of COVID-19.
France has detected several cases of a new Covid-19 variant, raising concerns amid a surge in cases of the infectious disease in Europe. The variant, is known as B.1.X or B.1.640
The AY.4.2 belongs to the same family of mutations that define the B.1.617.2, or Delta variant of the Novel Coronavirus that was first identified in India in October 2021.
WHO has designated the MU strain of coronavirus as a 'variant of interest'.
The variant has evolved from C.1, one of the lineages that dominated the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in South Africa and was last detected in January 2021.
Among the coronavirus family, one viral sub-group relies on the ACE2 molecule -- a protein found on the surface of many cell types -- to enter human cells. Neutralising antibodies are able to prevent the viral spike protein from binding with the ACE2 molecules in human cells.
Variants are continuing their progression, as the Alpha variant was seen in 180 countries while the Delta variant was reported from 13 new countries.
The Delta Covid-19 variant has now been detected in 96 countries, 11 more than last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update.
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