It had objected to affixing nationality to the variant later

The Centre used the term “Indian double mutant strain” in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court just days before it officially objected to affixing nationality to the virus variant.

A May 9 affidavit referred to “Indian double mutant strain” while detailing the steps taken by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology to develop Covaxin. The affidavit was filed in the court three days prior to a Ministry of Health statement on May 12, taking exception to media reports which referred to the B.1.617 variant as an “Indian variant”. It said the World Health Organization (WHO) had not associated B.1.617 with the term “Indian variant”. Instead, it considered the virus a variant of “global concern”.

The WHO had also clarified that it “does not identify viruses or variants with names of countries they are first reported from”. “We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency,” it said. But the affidavit runs contrary to the WHO even in this aspect. In fact, the affidavit calls variants “UK variant, Brazil variant, South African variant” and caps the list with the “Indian double mutant strain”.

The Ministry of Health was one among the many Ministries consulted before the affidavit was filed. The introductory paragraph in the affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs said the document was filed in compliance with the instructions received from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways.