Europe No Longer Categorizes COVID-19 Alpha Variant As VoC

Illustration/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (E-CDC) no longer categorizes COVID-19 variant Alpha (B1.1.7) as a Variant of Concern (VoC). On the ecdc.europa.eu page in Jakarta on Tuesday, February 22, E-CDC made a new classification and de-escalated the Alfa variant as of February 17, 2022. In its official statement, E-CDC said that the Alfa variant had been escalated based on a number of considerations. The alpha, which had caused an increase in the wave of cases at the end of 2020 and early 2021, was considered by the local health authorities to be no longer circulating in the community. Second, the variant which was originally reported from the UK has been circulating for a long time without having an impact on the overall epidemiological situation. Third, scientific evidence shows that the variant is not associated with any particular clinical aspect in Europe. Director of Post-Graduate University YARSI Pr of Tjandra Yoga Aditama said that although E-CDC no longer classifies Alpha as a VoC, until now the World Health Organization (WHO) still classifies Alfa as a VoC along with Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron variants.

"E-CDC de-escalated the Alfa variant and so it is no longer included as a VoC, Variant of Interest (VoI) or Variant under Monitoring (VUM) in Europe because of two concrete things," he said. First, said Tjandra, the circulation of the Alfa variant was far Tjandra, who is also the former Director of Infectious Diseases of WHO Southeast Asia for the 2018-2020 period, said the difference in the classification of COVID-19 variants between WHO and European Union countries The reason is that the European Union as well as several countries such as the United States, Britain and others have made their own VoC, VoI and VUM lists that are tailored to the conditions in their countries and regions. According to Tjandra, Indonesia can also do the same thing, in particular pioneering a number of countries in ASEAN region to make a classification of virus mutations based on their impact. "Maybe it would be good if Indonesia did something at the same time, or at least Indonesia can take the lead to discuss and determine VoC, VoI and VUM specifically for the ASEAN region, so that they are in accordance with the problems we face in our place and their handling is more focused," he said. "Of course it's not only about classification, but it would be good if ASEAN also had a joint program which was marked by, among other things, the 'ASEAN weekly epidemiological report on COVID-19', for example, which could be spearheaded by Indonesia," he said. Tjandra.