Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : July 2, 2021 12:11 PM IST
Delta Covid-19 Variant Can Even Infect Vaccinated People.
The Delta Covid-19 variant or B.1.617.2, which was first detected in India last October , is becoming the dominant strain worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it has now been detected in 96 countries. The UN health agency had also described the Delta variant as the most transmissible of all the variants identified so far. It is 55 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant, initially detected in the UK, WHO said in its latest update issued on Wednesday. The organisation also warned it will rapidly become the dominant strain globally.
Acknowledging the contagious nature of the Delta variant, the WHO had recently urged vaccinated people to continue wearing masks and practice other Covid-19 pandemic safety measures. During a news briefing, Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, noted that people cannot feel safe just because they are fully vaccinated, they still need to protect themselves. "Vaccine alone won't stop community transmission," the expert said urging people to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, practise hand hygiene, maintain physical distance, and avoid crowding.
The spread of the super-contagious Delta variant is forcing health authorities around the world to impose new lockdowns and issue new warnings for the public.
The Delta variant is estimated to account for more than a quarter of the new coronavirus cases in the US. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the highly transmissible Covid-19 strain has reached nearly every state and it accounts for 26.1 per cent of the total confirmed cases in the country. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said recently that the Delta variant is likely to become the dominant coronavirus strain in the US. Concerned about the rising cases of Delta variant and uneven vaccination rates across the US, the country's health authorities are now reconsidering the mask mandate for the public.
The CDC's current mask guidance says fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask indoors or outdoors. But some experts argue that the Delta variant poses a significant risk to people and communities who remain unvaccinated. Highlighting the extreme disparity between areas with low and high vaccination rates, Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN Wednesday that the CDC's mask guidance needs to be more specific with the Delta variant in mind.
Meanwhile, spread of Delta variant has prompted officials in Los Angeles County to reinstate mask guidance for public indoor spaces -- regardless of vaccination status.
However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, doesn't feel the need to make changes to the CDC mask guidance as he stated that spikes in Covid-19 case are "entirely avoidable, entirely preventable" with vaccination. He also said that the US vaccines are effective against the Delta variant.
A recent CDC study also showed that vaccinated people experience milder illness than unvaccinated people, if they are infected with Covid-19.
But Dr. Fauci cautioned that Americans must take the Delta variant seriously. Like in the UK, the Delta variant is the "greatest threat" to America's attempt to eradicate the Covid pandemic, he stated on Tuesday during a White House Covid-19 response team briefing.
The Delta variant has now become the dominant strain in the UK, surpassing the Alpha variant first discovered in the country. Currently, the strain makes up more than 90 percent of coronavirus cases there, despite almost 62% of adults in the country being fully vaccinated. Most of the new cases are reportedly seen in younger people who are yet to have the two doses of the Covid-19 vaccines.
The World Health Organization classified the Delta variant as a variant of concern on May 10. Because it carries two mutations, it is also referred to as a "double mutant".
With inputs from agencies
