Delta variant is highly infectious even for those who are vaccinated
As the number of coronavirus cases in the country subsides, government officials continue to encourage people to take their vaccine shots as soon as possible. While people are still sceptical and have their own reservations about vaccine efficacy, experts believe that it is the only possible way we can curb the impact of the pandemic.
On the other hand, the growing number of variants has also become a cause of concern. The Delta Variant, which was originally detected in India in October last year, is said to be highly infectious. According to separate studies conducted by AIIMS (Delhi) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), it was suggested that the Delta variant can escape antibodies from one or both the doses of Covidshield and Covaxin.
What is the Delta Variant?
The Delta variant, scientifically termed as B.1.617.2 of the COVID-19 infections, refers to the merging of two mutations of a virus strain that go on to form a third, super infectious strain. The B.1.617 variant contains mutations from two separate virus variants, namely E484Q and L452R.
With the help of genome sequencing and sample testing, the first case of double mutation in India was discovered in the state of Maharashtra in October last year. Earlier lab results reported a sharp rise in the E484Q and L452R mutations since December.
Is it more dangerous than the other COVID strains?
Considering the Delta variant carries the genetic code from two other mutations, E484Q and L452R, it becomes all the more easy for it to break into the human immune system and invade the organs.
Recent study from the UK indicates that the variant is highly infectious and transmissible. Looking at the data provided by the UK government, the Delta variant went from accounting for 1% of all cases in early April to 70% by mid-May. It is said to be 40% more infectious than the 'Alpha' variant, which was first detected in Kent, UK.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) categorised Delta variant as a variant of concern (VOC) and said that it was more dominant than the Alpha variant.
How effective are COVID vaccines against the Delta Variant?
Though there have been no concrete evidence to suggest that the vaccines are ineffective against the variants, two separate studies conducted by AIIMS (Delhi) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have said that the Delta variant can infect people even after they're partially or fully vaccinated with Covishield and Covaxin. Since the new strains of the virus have the ability to evade immune responses, there are chances that the vaccines may not be very effective against them.
However, it is important to note that the studies have not yet been peer reviewed.
The study
In the study conducted by a team of experts from the AIIMS-IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology), 63 symptomatic patients, who had reported persistent fever for five to seven days, were observed and evaluated. Of the 63 individuals, 36 patients had received two doses, while 27 had received one dose of vaccine. "Ten patients received AZD1222/Covishield while 53 received BBV152/Covaxin," the study read.
About 76.9 percent of infections by the Delta variant were reported in people who had got only one dose of the vaccine, whereas 60 percent in people who had received both doses.
The NCDC-IGIB study suggested that breakthrough infections due to the Delta variant was higher in people who had received Covishield vaccine. About 27 patients who had taken Covishield reported delta' breakthrough infections, with an infection rate of 70.3 percent.
The study commented on the rising number of COVID patients infected with the Delta variant and said, ""Reinfections and vaccine breakthrough infections are rare occurrences and genomic sequencing of vaccine breakthrough infections can provide useful insights. In the present group of vaccine breakthrough infections investigated using genome sequencing, closely overlapping and mirroring the COVID-19 cases in the states of Delhi, the variants of concern B.1.617.2 and B.1.1.7 comprised the majority, but the proportions were not significantly different in comparison with the population prevalence of the variants during this period with high community transmission."
Why is it important to get your vaccination?
Irrespective of the suggested ineffectiveness of the vaccines, getting vaccinated is very important. It is currently the only way to minimize chances of COVID infection and rate of severity in people. Apart from that, following all precautionary measures is key to battling the ill-effects of COVID-19.