Covid news: Does JN.1 variant require additional dose of vaccine? Here's what INSACOG chief said

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advised to take precautions; otherwise, there is no need for any additional doses," NK Arora said while speaking with news agency ANI. The INSACOG chief asserted that they have identified over 400 subvariants of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, but none of the sub-variants is associated with more severe disease. "Every week you hear something new coming up in different parts and then it spreads all over India.

We have identified a large number of subvariants, over 400 subvariants, or mutations of this virus, and fortunately, none of these Omicron variants have really been associated with more severe disease or hospitalization," he said. Dr Arora also mentioned that the symptoms of JN.1 are very similar to the Omicron variant. "Symptoms are very similar on the basis that one cannot differentiate JN.1 from other subvariants of Omicron like fever, nasal discharge, and cough.

There can be occasional diarrhea and severe body aches, and usually they recover in two to five days," the doctor outlined. "Within India, from October last week till now in the last 8 weeks, we have seen 22 cases. There is no evidence that it is spreading very rapidly.

JN.1 is less than 1 percent of all the isolates so far. Recently, the number of cases has certainly increased, and the testing has also picked up," he said. "There is no increase in hospitalization.

We see a lot of cases in Kerala, but I must also say that in other states where testing has increased recently, we are seeing a higher number of cases. But there is no increase in hospitalization or severe disease that requires ventilation or results in deaths," the doctor added. On Friday, India reported 752 new cases of Covid-19, and 4 deaths were attributed to the virus.